North and South
by mycookiegirl
Summary: Ponyboy always feels like Darry doesn't care about him. But what if a certain somebody comes along and makes things worse? How will the youngest Curtis cope?
1. Prologue

**I do not own The Outsiders. S.E. Hinton does :)**

"Ponyboy, have you done your homework yet?" Darry called, shuffling through some bills.

"Yeah!" Pony shouted back, with a little bit of attitude in his voice. This didn't go unnoticed by Darry, however the older greaser decided to let it slide just this once.

"I want to see it." Darry insisted, making Ponyboy groan. Still, the youngest greaser strolled into the living room and handed Darry his math homework.

Darry scanned over the sheet of paper, and then handed it back to Pony and nodded.

"It's all correct, though you could try and make your work a little neater. If your work's all over the place then you're bound to not get accepted into college." The older greaser lectured, making Pony roll his eyes.

"Can I go now?" Pony mumbled, and Darry frowned.

"Yes, but haven't you got a test next week? I want you to be getting a high grade."

Ponyboy didn't even bother to answer, and just stormed back to his room. Darry shook his head in annoyance but didn't call Pony back; his little brother had been in a bad mood since he had gotten home from school.

About ten minutes later, Sodapop Curtis casually strolled into the house with Steve following in tow.

"You're thirty minutes late, Soda." Darry tutted.

"Sorry Dar, but you know how life gets." Soda chuckled, and Darry couldn't help but supress a smile.

"Fine, just try not to let it happen again." Darry answered, going back to the bills.

Meanwhile, Pony was sitting with his back pressed against his and Soda's bedroom door. He felt very angry with the conversation that was taking place in the next room. Soda got away with everything! He had been late three times this week, and Darry told him to _try_ and not let it happen again. The youngest Curtis remembered what had happened five days ago, when he himself was late.

XXX

 _Ponyboy and Johnny had been out exploring the neighborhood (even though they knew the place inside out), when Ponyboy remembered that he had promised that he would be home at 8 PM. He checked his watch and the time read: 8:11 PM._

" _Uh-oh, Darry's gonna kill me!" Ponyboy uttered to Johnny before grabbing the tanned greaser's arm and jogging back to his house. Johnny tried to keep up, but eventually had to tell Pony to slow down, and that he was also hurting his arm._

 _The two greasers walked quicker than usual back to the Curtis house. Ponyboy was scared, though he remembered all the times that Soda had arrived home late, and Darry hadn't said a word. He hoped that it would be the same for him._

 _Meanwhile, the rest of the gang of greasers were all at the Curtis house. Sodapop and Steve were wrestling on the floor while Dally and Two-Bit played an unfair game of poker. Darrel Curtis was on the sofa reading a newspaper, trying to ease his worry for his youngest brother._

 _Suddenly, Ponyboy and Johnny came casually walking through the door. Everybody looked up and then went back to what they were doing, except for Darry who had now stood up and made his way over to both boys._

 _Johnny looked up in fear while Ponyboy stayed silent._

" _Hey Johnny, why don't you go join the guys? Me and Pony need to talk for a minute." Darry said softly, taking hold of Pony's arm. Johnny quickly nodded and joined the other boys while Darry's grip remained on Ponyboy's arm._

 _The oldest Curtis basically dragged Pony out onto the porch and began pacing around._

" _Do you know how worried I was?!" Darry exploded. Ponyboy just shifted on his feet. "You're almost 25 minutes late, Ponyboy! You need to start acting more responsible!"_

" _Soda's always late and you never shout at him." Pony replied in his defence._

" _Yeah? Well at least Soda can use his head! Unlike you, Ponyboy! Sometimes I feel as if I'm taking care of a three year old rather than a thirteen year old." Darry stated, and Ponyboy cracked his knuckles._

" _I'm never good enough for you, am I?" Ponyboy declared, but Darry blocked him out._

" _Stay in your room for the rest of the night. You can come out tomorrow." Darry mumbled, and stomped back into the house before slamming the screen door loudly._

" _Oh, I will." Pony whispered angrily._

XXX

Ponyboy moved out of the way of the door when he heard footsteps approaching his room. He jumped onto his bed and sat up straight as Soda walked through the door.

"Hey, Pony!" Soda smiled, collapsing on the bed next to his little brother.

"Hey." Pony replied sourly.

Sodapop could detect that something was bothering his little brother, so he turned to face him and grinned at him.

"Is somebody grumpy?" Soda chuckled, and Pony pulled a face. "I think somebody is!" with that, Soda turned over and wrapped his arm around Pony.

Ponyboy squirmed, trying to escape. He was also trying to hide a smile that seemed to be fighting its way through.

Soda dug his fingers into Pony's side, making the youngest greaser squeal. The sixteen year old moved his way up to the back of Pony's neck, and Pony screamed, though it sounded more like a scream of pain rather than laughter.

The older greaser pulled his hand away and stared at Pony who was trying not to cry.

"What's wrong, Ponyboy?" Soda asked softly.

"Nothing, my neck just hurts a little." Ponyboy muttered, massaging the back of his neck gently.

"Okay…" Soda said, and then looked at his bedroom door. "You wanna come into the living room?"

"Nah; Darry wants me studying for some test I got next week." Pony smiled grimly, and Soda frowned; Darry always wanted Pony doing something that involved schoolwork.

"Oh well, don't be too long." Soda smiled, hopping off the bed and running into the living room. Ponyboy inwardly smiled; he loved how Soda acted so childish.

Darry had finished paying the bills and was sitting on the sofa. He grinned when Soda collapsed next to him.

"Hey, little buddy. How was work, for both of you?" he asked, looking at Steve.

"Same old, same old." Steve groaned.

"Well, except for the fact that _more_ girls turned up to see me today." Soda chuckled, making Darry smile and shake his head while Steve groaned again, only this time louder.

The three men watched TV for about twenty minutes until Ponyboy appeared.

"Darry, I've been studying. Can I come out now?" he asked.

"You've only studied for twenty minutes." Darry responded with a frown. Soda's eyes widened…twenty minutes?! Soda never even used to study for exams!

"Yeah, but I did my math homework too." Pony tried, but Darry didn't look impressed.

"It's still an exam, Ponyboy, and I want you getting high grades." Darry grumbled.

"Of course; it's always what _you_ want." Pony muttered, but Darry heard him.

"I only do this for your own benefit, Ponyboy! And if you can't accept that, then deal with it! But you _will_ study for this exam, and you _will_ get good grades. Otherwise, I'll skin you. You understand me?" Darry yelled, making Pony flinch back.

Steve smirked, but Soda actually felt sorry for his little brother.

"Okay Darry." Pony said miserably, backing into his room and gently shutting the door behind him.

"He needs a break too." Soda snapped at Darry, clearly not happy about how Darry had just treated Ponyboy.

"Yeah, well the kid's thirteen. He needs to start taking some responsibility." Darry snapped back, and then sunk down on the sofa. Steve's amused look did not go away.

XXX

" _Ponyboy, I need you to stay behind." Mr North declared. Ponyboy just waited at his desk and shrugged; he knew he hadn't done anything wrong so he knew there was no point in getting worried._

" _Bye greaser!" a few socs shouted, making Pony turn red._

 _Mr North pulled out a chair and sat opposite Pony._

" _Now, Ponyboy, I understand that you've been unhappy where you're sitting, am I right?" Mr North started. Ponyboy nodded. "Well, I think that this will help 'discipline' you."_

 _Ponyboy looked up at Mr North, confused. Discipline for what?_

" _You're a very horrible person, Ponyboy." Mr North stated, and Ponyboy chuckled, thinking the teacher was joking. "Fortunately, as a school teacher, I have a right to teach you how to act. You see…" Mr North started, and Pony felt as if he was speaking to a psychiatrist. "You're a horrible person in general, and I feel that it would be wrong of me to just let you go down the wrong path."_

" _Okay…" Ponyboy frowned._

" _First, we'll start off with the standard discipline." Mr North announced. Ponyboy nodded not sure where this was going._

 _Mr North harshly pulled Pony's hair, and pulled the greaser forward so that their faces were up close. Ponyboy winced in pain._

" _You are a brat. A burden. No good hood. And I have the right to beat you!" Mr North spat, and pinched the back of Pony's neck harshly._

" _Ow!" Ponyboy screamed, but Mr North clamped Pony's mouth shut with his hand._

" _Quiet!" Mr North hissed in Ponyboy's ear. "Now, get out of here!"_

 _Ponyboy brushed his eyes with his fingers and then ran out of the classroom before the teacher could pull him back again._

XXX

Ponyboy felt the back of his neck with his index finger, putting pressure on the spot where Mr North had pinched him. Ponyboy wasn't even sure why the teacher had pinched him and why he wanted to 'discipline' him, but decided to not tell his brothers.

"I was tickling Pony before, and his neck seems to be really hurting." Soda said, looking to see Darry's response.

"See what I mean? The kid needs to be taking responsibility." Darry growled. Steve raised his eyebrows at Soda but didn't say anything.

"Just sayin'." Soda muttered, trying to hide his annoyance.

Darry didn't even reply, and instead just continued to watch the TV.

Soda sighed and stood up, strolling back to his and Pony's room.

The sixteen year old greaser stripped off his shirt and fell beside Pony, who was asleep and had a mirror clutched to his chest.

Soda wondered briefly why his little brother had a mirror; however his attention was now directed to a small ugly purple bluish bruise that was hiding under his brother's auburn hair.

Soda gently brushed some of Pony's hair out of the way, only to see that the bruise wasn't so small, but actually quite big. Two tiny red marks were engraved on the bruise, and both marks were just about the size of two fingernails…

 **AN: I wonder why Mr North wants to hurt Ponyboy? I know I've already got two other stories, but don't worry if you're enjoying them; they're still being continued! I kinda need some suggestions for** _ **One Marvellous Adventure**_ **because I'm stuck on chapter ideas! Don't worry though; it'll be updated either way!**


	2. Another talk with Mr North

**I do not own The Outsiders. S.E. Hinton does :)**

Ponyboy woke up feeling hot and scared; he knew he'd had a nightmare yet he couldn't remember what it was about. All's he could remember was Mr North's pale face smiling at him wickedly.

"You okay, Pony?" Soda mumbled, pulling Pony back down.

Ponyboy shivered so Soda wrapped his arm around his little brother. The teacher's face haunted the younger boy's mind, making it difficult for him to get back to sleep.

"What's wrong?" Soda asked more awake this time. Ponyboy shrugged and turned away from Soda, though he regretted it when he felt a warm hand on the back of his neck. Ponyboy remembered the bruise that he had sworn to hide from his brothers.

"That's nothing Soda. Leave it alone." Ponyboy whispered, but Soda wouldn't move his hand.

"What happened, Pony?" he asked softly.

Ponyboy felt like crying; nobody was supposed to find out!

"I can't remember." Pony answered quickly, pulling away from his big brother.

Sodapop, sensing that his little brother was getting upset, decided to let it go for now. The teenager simply pulled Pony closer to him again and shut his eyes; however Ponyboy hardly slept for the rest of the night.

 **XXX**

"For goodness sake, Ponyboy! What time did you go to bed last night?!" Darry hollered at a pale Ponyboy whose eyes were drooping.

"It wasn't his fault, Darry; he had a nightmare." Soda piped up, wiping chocolate milk off the side of his mouth.

Darry muttered something inaudible and glared at Ponyboy, who was now staring at his breakfast.

"Well don't just look at it! Eat it!" Darry ordered, but Pony shook his head.

"I'm really not hungry Darry." Pony responded softly, though Darry's glare did not fade. He roughly placed his hand on Pony's forehead and then crossed his arms.

"You're not sick, so eat your food." The oldest Curtis said, but Pony shook his head again. "Fine! Do what you want!" Darry stormed out of the room before either brother could respond.

Soda looked at Pony, but quickly looked away again when he saw tears slip out of the younger boy's eyes; he didn't want to make Pony feel uncomfortable.

"Why am I never good enough for him, Soda?" the boy whined, and Soda turned back around again and hugged his younger brother.

"He's probably just in a bad mood, Pony. He'll be over it by tonight." Soda assured, even though he wasn't certain; Darry's mood swings could go on for a few days, though that was only in dire circumstances.

Ponyboy pushed Soda's arms off him, grabbed his backpack, and started walking to school. Two-Bit said he was skipping, so Pony didn't have a ride. It wasn't like he cared anyway.

"Darry?" Soda called.

"Yeah, little buddy?"

"Please, just try to be easier on Pony. He thinks that you don't like him." Soda pleaded calmly. Darry sighed.

"Well that's his problem isn't it? If he can't accept that I'm trying to help him-"

"But you constantly holler at him, and it's not fair." Soda complained, and Darry sighed again.

"Alright, I'll _try_ to be easier on him." Darry promised, and Soda beamed.

 **XXX**

"Everybody, please take out your math homework which was set last week." Mr North asked, and every student except for one or two did as he had asked.

Ponyboy set his homework down on his desk, looking up at Mr North. Maybe Mr North was a little loopy yesterday? Maybe he hadn't actually meant to hurt Pony?

The teacher collected everybody's pieces of paper, except for the students who hadn't been bothered to do their homework. He told them to wait behind at the end of the lesson, then came and knelt beside Ponyboy.

"Ponyboy, I want you to come back to my classroom at the end of the day. If you don't, I'll be calling home." Mr North demanded quietly, and Ponyboy nodded.

The youngest Curtis actually felt scared; what did this teacher want now?

For now, the boy decided to forget about Mr North, and headed to the cafeteria. A few boys beckoned him over to their table, so Pony headed over and sat with them.

He recognized a lot of the boys: Steve Randle, Curly Shepard, Mark Jennings, Bryon Douglas and Johnny Cade. The rest were all familiar, though he didn't know their names. A few girls were sitting around the table too, all of who were way out of Pony's league.

"I bet this cafeteria food could actually kill people." Mark remarked, pushing his tray around. All of the girls giggled while a few of the guys nodded. Ponyboy made a face at Mark's plate.

"What is that?" he questioned in disgust.

"I think its meatloaf or somethin'." Bryon chided. "And anyway, Mark only went over there because of the new lunch-lady."

"I asked her if she was serving melons." Mark chuckled, making a few of the other boys laugh while the girls blushed.

"That's disgusting, Mark." a blond haired girl tutted, smacking the boy on the arm.

"So, what's goin' on with you, Curtis?" Curly asked, "You look glum."

"Well you'd be glum if Mr North wanted to talk to you." Ponyboy frowned.

"Mr North? I think he's alright." Steve asserted.

"He tried to touch my leg once." Veronica, the girl who had smacked Mark on the arm, announced with a look of disgust on her powdered face. This just made Ponyboy even more fearful of Mr North.

"Well, what's wrong with that? I do it all the time." Curly smirked, rubbing his hand on the girl's knee. Veronica tutted, though she didn't try and shove his hand off.

"I heard somebody say that the new lunch-lady is Mr North's daughter." Johnny added.

Everybody stared at the small greaser, shocked. Johnny turned red.

"It's just what I heard!" he defended.

"Who cares? It's not like she _is_ Mr North." Mark chuckled.

The rest of the lunch break was spent with all of the teenagers fooling around, except for Ponyboy who was too busy worrying about Mr North. Parts of his nightmare were coming together like a jigsaw, and it was terrifying.

The young greaser went through with his next two periods, and then found himself waiting outside of Mr North's classroom door. His gut was telling him to just run away, but he was scared of the threat that Mr North was sure to carry out with if Ponyboy didn't wait.

Eventually, Mr North opened the door, placed a hand on Pony's back, and then walked back inside. He forcefully shoved Ponyboy down onto a chair, and made sure that all of the windows (including the one on the door) in his classroom were covered.

"Yesterday's session was just a start. Today we're going to focus on more important things." The teacher declared, making Pony involuntarily shudder.

Mr North sat on his desk, forcing Pony to look up at him.

Without warning, Pony felt a hard blow to the side of his face. He was knocked right off his chair, and had managed to hit his head as he went down.

Pony sat up and clutched his head, trying to stop his head from going round in circles. He felt like he was going to throw up with the amount of dizziness whirling through him.

"You are a horrible person! I am just giving you the beating that you deserve!" Mr North roared, picking up the books on his desk and throwing them at the boy, while Ponyboy just cried and took the hits.

 **XXX**

"Where could he be?!" Darry shouted at Soda who was pretending to watch TV. "There wasn't even any point in me getting off work early!"

"He might have just gone to see a movie or gone the library, Dar. You know how he is." Soda smiled.

"He could at least call! What is up with that boy?!" Darry responded loudly.

"Now come on, Dar. Me and you both used to do it and mom and dad weren't bothered. Hell, I used to do it before I dropped out and you didn't care that much." Soda replied.

"Well we're responsible. That boy sometimes acts like he doesn't have a brain." Darry spat.

"Give him _some_ credit, Dar. You act like he's a baby sometimes." Soda sighed, swivelling his eyes back to the TV. He didn't even know what was going on in the show; he was too busy listening to Darry ramble on about how Pony needed to be acting more responsible.

"Ponyboy is so grounded when he gets home." Darry thundered.

 **XXX**

Ponyboy was close to unconsciousness when Mr North was finished with him.

The young boy was covered in bruises, he was sporting a split lip as well as a split eyebrow, and his head felt as if it was about to explode.

Mr North picked Pony up from under his armpits and roughly placed him down on the chair that the boy had previously been sitting on. The man grabbed a rag and started harshly rubbing the cuts Ponyboy had on his face.

Ponyboy squirmed around but let the man clean the blood out of his wounds, until eventually they just looked like scratches. The split lip was an exception, but Mr North told Ponyboy that if anybody asked, the boy had fallen and split his lip by accident.

"Now, see these?" Mr North said, rolling up Pony's sleeves and signalling to the bruises, "This was not me, okay? Because you know what will happen if you tell ANYBODY about our little talks? I will go to the police and tell them that your brother has been hitting you." He announced. "I am a respected member of society, and I have the power to get you and your other dumb brother taken away by the state." The teacher smirked, and Pony sniffled.

"What have I done wrong?" he asked, allowing tears to drip from his eyes.

"Well, other than the fact that you're a horrible person…you were born. You shouldn't have been born; you should have died at birth. Really; I knew your dad and he told me that there was complications and you almost died, but _luckily_ you pulled through." Mr North explained.

"You knew my dad?" Pony questioned.

"Yes, and you're just as horrible as him. You deserve to die just like he did." The teacher spat. Ponyboy didn't even know what happened next: he felt his hand hitting something, and then felt himself falling to the ground again.

"How dare you strike me!" Mr North screamed, kicking Pony in the ribs. He continued to kick Pony until the young boy went limp. Mr North gasped and picked Pony up, but sighed in relief when he saw that the boy was still awake. "Leave right now." Mr North hissed, and Pony limped his way out of the classroom.

Ponyboy lifted his shirt, and saw that his stomach and chest were both covered in large purple bruises. There was one on his hip that was larger than all of the others, and it was a dark maroon color. The boy knew that he had track tomorrow, and was scared to think about the pain that he'd have to endure.

No! He couldn't let anybody in the changing rooms see his arms and upper body! He'd have to convince Darry to write him a note for coach.

The youngest Curtis walked home slower than usual, trying not to put too much pressure on his hip. He tried to hide his limp, though it was very obvious.

Ponyboy finally reached home at 4:30 PM, though when he saw Darry's face he felt a little bit of regret sink through him.

"Where the hell have you been, Ponyboy?!" Darry shouted. Johnny, Steve and Two-Bit had all come to the Curtis house about twenty minutes before, and all were interested in the argument that was taking place.

"I…I s-stayed at s-school for a little bit." Pony stuttered.

Darry grabbed Pony's arm and pulled his younger brother over to him. Pony winced though he tried not to make it obvious that he was in pain.

"I've had just about enough with these stunts you've been pulling lately. Go to your room now!" Darry yelled, and shoved Pony harder than usual.

A sharp pain shot through Pony's side and arm, and everybody watched as the youngest greaser fell to the floor. Pony had fallen right on his hip, making him scream in pain.

"Pony, I'm so sorry!" Darry cried, picking Pony up.

"It's okay, I'm fine." Pony muttered quickly, pushing past Darry and running to his and Soda's room. The boy collapsed on the bed and began crying, and wondered if what Mr North had said was true.

" _A brat. A burden. You should have died at birth."_

All of these thoughts whirled through Pony's head, making him feel dizzy like before. He quickly snapped out of his daze when he heard arguing in the next room. It sounded like Soda and Darry.

Pony listened to Soda shout at Darry and call him out on things while Darry shouted about how he never meant for Pony to fall and everything. Darry didn't mean to do something? Well, that was a lie in itself; Darry never made mistakes, or so Pony thought.

Suddenly the bedroom door was opened and Soda jumped on his and Pony's bed.

"Sorry about that Pony. I was just-" Soda stopped abruptly when he saw Pony's arm. The youngest Curtis still hadn't rolled his sleeve down from before when he was checking the damage that Mr North had done.

"Geez Pony, how did you do that?!" Soda exclaimed, pointing at Pony's arm.

Pony looked up at Soda and sighed.

"…I fell."

 **AN: Hey guys, so here is the second chapter of North and South! Thank you to everybody who has reviewed, favorited and followed this story! Damn, Mr North is so evil! Who could possibly hurt Ponyboy and…wait, am I rambling about a character that I've created? Oh well! Please feed me some feedback as I would love to see everybody's opinions (and burning hatreds for Mr North!)! Until next time :)  
P.S. I feel that this chapter is a bit rushed. I hope it's okay for all of you :D**


	3. Because he was born

**I do not own The Outsiders. S.E. Hinton does :)**

Two days had passed since Darry had knocked Ponyboy over, and the young boy was avoiding Darry as much as possible. Whenever Darry tried to talk to him, Ponyboy would start talking to somebody else, and if he tried to apologize, then the boy would just mutter a response and storm off.

Darry hadn't meant to hurt his little brother this way, though he felt slightly confused; he had done this once before just after their parents had died, and Ponyboy had simply pushed the incident aside and acted as if it had never happened. But now he was angry, something very unlike Ponyboy's normal behavior.

"Ponyboy," Soda whispered after he had climbed into their bed beside the boy, "Darry really didn't mean to make you upset. He was just worried, kiddo."

"Nah, Darry's never worried bout' _me_ , he's just worried that the state will take _you_ away." Pony said under his breath, quiet enough so that Sodapop couldn't hear him.

Sodapop had mistaken Pony's silence for the boy's sleepiness; he knew that Ponyboy had been having nightmares every night for the past couple of days, and the dark circles under his little brother's eyes confirmed Soda's and Darry's worries for the thought of Pony not sleeping well.

"Alright, goodnight, little buddy." Soda mumbled, and threw and arm over Pony's chest. Pony snuggled down beside his brother, already dreading going to sleep.

When Ponyboy had been peacefully sleeping for a few hours, nobody in his and Soda's room noticed the door creak open; the boys were both somewhere faraway where nothing could disturb them…unless somebody shook them awake.

Darry Curtis crept into the room, using the light from the living room as his source. The young man crouched beside a sleeping Ponyboy, and he smiled.

The smile soon turned into a frown however, when the light from the hall illuminated all of the scars on Ponyboy's face which had been given to him two days before.

Ponyboy's left eyebrow had a small split that was far too white for Ponyboy's already pale face. And as for the boy's lip: Darry noticed that the wound had closed over, though it still looked awfully painful.

"Did you get into a fight?" Darry asked the sleeping boy softly, "Or did you fall?" There was no reply, just the slow, quiet breathing coming from Pony's nose.

Time passed slowly, or so Darry thought. He just stayed there in his position, crouched next to his sleeping baby brother, watching as both of his brothers slept soundly.

" _I wonder where they are right now._ " Darry thought to himself.

Eventually Ponyboy began to stir, making Darry quickly stand up and rush out of the room before the boy had even opened his eyes.

Ponyboy rubbed his eyes, just staring at the spot where Darry had been crouching. Soda sat up and put his arms around Pony's shoulders.

"What's up, Pony?" Soda asked sleepily.

"Something was here…right next to me. It's not here anymore." Pony responded. Soda just shrugged, and then peered out of the window.

"It's still dark; go back to sleep." Soda ordered gently, and lay down before pulling Pony down with him. Fortunately, the boy hadn't had any nightmares, so he didn't fear going back to sleep again.

The two brothers fell asleep quicker than before.

Darry, who was stood outside of his little brothers' bedroom, looked into their room and breathed out quietly.

"Goodnight boys. Come back soon." He murmured, and then closed the door gently.

 **XXX**

"Darry, I forgive you." Ponyboy said unexpectedly, making Darry's eyes widen. Sodapop smiled and his eyes kept darting back and forth to both of his brothers.

Darry suddenly smiled, and Ponyboy smiled back. The young boy didn't feel like smiling though, when he remembered that he had to go to school that day, and unfortunately, unlike the day before, he had math class; which was taught by Mr North.

"I don't want to go to school today." Ponyboy mumbled, stirring his cereal around the white porcelain bowl. He didn't feel hungry anymore.

"Aw, it's Friday today, Pony. Only a few more hours: then you can sleep." Soda chirped, placing his thumb and index finger on either side of Pony's mouth and pushing upwards; forcing his little brother to smile.

Ponyboy shook his head and pushed Soda's hand away.

"Come on now, Pony. You need to be getting your grades up." Darry responded, and Ponyboy frowned and felt slightly hurt; did Darry only care about his grades? True, Darry had apologized to Ponyboy countless numbers of times in the past few days, but perhaps he only wanted to get on Pony's good side so that he could get him shipped off to college as early as possible.

"I'm leaving." Ponyboy declared after a few silent minutes, grabbing his backpack off the counter.

"Not without eating you're not." Darry insisted dryly, motioning to Pony's bowl of uneaten cereal.

"I'm really not hungry, Darry. I'll get something at school." Pony lied.

"If I find out that you don't, then I'll skin ya. I'll be asking Two-Bit-"

"Two-Bit isn't in school." Pony said quickly.

"Fine, then I'll ask _Steve_ if you've eaten something." Darry announced, and Pony sighed; Steve would be likely to sell him out.

"I'm not a little kid. I don't have to eat when you tell me to." Pony protested feebly, and Darry smiled.

"You sure about that, little brother?" he smirked, and then strolled out of the kitchen.

Ponyboy left, and walked to school quite slowly; he didn't want to get there too quickly in case Mr North was waiting at the entrance for him. Instead, Pony reached school just as everybody was going inside, including the teachers.

The first few lessons of the day flew by in a haze, and Ponyboy found himself in the school cafeteria again. He couldn't find anybody, except for Curly, Veronica and Steve. The boy ambled over to the table, though he decided to sit next to Steve since Curly and Veronica were busy making out.

"Hey kid, Soda told me that you have to eat today," Steve smirked, "Otherwise, you'll be in trouble."

"But I don't feel like eatin'; please just tell them that I did eat. I feel kinda sick." Pony insisted, and Steve shook his head and flashed a smile.

"Can't do that; if Superdope found out that I lied, my 'huge nose' will end up gettin' knocked off my face, and we can't have that can we? I don't think Evie would 'preciate it anyway."

"But I'm not a baby; I can make my own decisions and I don't have to eat if I don't want to."

"Then _tell_ your big brother that. But I ain't backin' you up." Steve said, and Pony nodded.

"Uh-oh, it's Mr North." Curly hissed after Veronica had broken their long, long make out session.

Veronica gulped and covered her exposed knee, though it wasn't Veronica who Mr North was concerned about.

"Ponyboy, after my lesson at the end of the day, I would like it if you stayed behind. Me and you need to have a long talk." The teacher proclaimed to the boy. Ponyboy just gave the teacher a weak smile. "Good." And with that, the teacher strolled off.

Steve raised his eyebrows at Pony, as did Curly while Veronica licked her lips at a soc a few tables away. Ponyboy shrugged, and whispered to Steve:

"If Darry an' Soda are home early, tell em' I'm still at school."

Steve nodded, feeling slightly concerned for the youngest member of the gang, but brushed his concern away quickly; they weren't friends after all, and people who weren't friends didn't give a damn about each other, or so the young man kept telling himself.

English class was over in a flash, however Ponyboy found that math class felt as if it was dragging on just a little.

Mr North passed everybody's exams around the classroom. The class had taken the test on Monday, and today was Friday, and he always promised that the test would be graded by the end of the week, and he never backed down on this promise.

When Ponyboy's test was handed back to him, the boy scowled. On his paper was a big red 'F' with a circle around it. All of his answers had crosses next to them, which Ponyboy knew was odd; he had known all the answers since he had spent his Sunday night studying.

Though when Ponyboy actually looked at the answers, he saw that the handwriting was not his, and he was certain that he had not answered the third question as, "I don't know this answer", since this was by far the easiest question on the whole test!

Ponyboy raised his hand, and when Mr North made his way over to the boy, Ponyboy cleared his throat.

"Excuse me, sir, but these aren't my answers. Somebody has changed them." Ponyboy stated, though by scanning over Mr North's face, he was quite sure of whom the offender was. "It doesn't matter; I must have gotten confused." Pony smiled grimly, and Mr North tutted before walking away.

After all of the students except for Ponyboy left, the same thing happened to the young boy that had been happening the past few days: he was beaten, and then was warned not to tell anybody before being forced out of the classroom.

Ponyboy limped home again, but luckily when he walked through the front door, Darry didn't look very angry. Steve must have told Darry that Pony was staying after school. The man's expression changed however when he asked Steve if Ponyboy had eaten anything.

Ponyboy winced as Darry scolded him; however the oldest Curtis decided that Pony had had a rough week, so he decided to speak to the boy gently.

"I just don't want you getting sick, Pony. It worries me when you refuse to eat anything." Darry stated softly. Ponyboy nodded, and was surprised when Darry pulled him in for a hug. "I love you so much." He whispered, and Pony smiled.

 **XXX**

Norman North stood on his roof, while his wife and eldest daughter pleaded with him to come down, that he would hurt himself.

North however, wouldn't listen; as always.

North's wife, Ruth, and his daughter, Jemi, eventually left, leaving Norman North standing on the roof. The man had taken his shoes off, as well as his shirt, however he had made sure that he had left his socks on; Norman North liked his socks.

A lot of images flashed through the man's head.

First, he thought of when he was a seven year old boy, and his dad had let him go out to get some fresh air. That was when he stumbled across Darrel Curtis, who was holding hands with the beautiful Shannon Schneider. North felt envy flash through him, however that envy was replaced with happiness when Darrel asked if Norman would like to join them.

The three grew up: Darrel and Shannon got married while Norman got a job as a teacher. Eventually, Norman met a woman called Ruth, though if he had to admit it, he would say that he would have rather married Shannon than Ruth. However, life went on.

Darrel and Shannon had a baby, and Norman was thrilled for the two of them. Very soon, Norman and Ruth had a child, Jemi, and Darrel and Shannon were thrilled for them.

Four years later, Darrel and Shannon had another baby, whom was given a strange name. Norman and Ruth decided to wait a couple of years until they were ready to have another child; Jemi was enough at the moment!

One year later, Shannon and Ruth were both expecting new arrivals, and were both overjoyed when they heard that the babies were expected to be born on the same day. And they were, except one decided that it wasn't ready for the world yet, while Ponyboy Curtis was brought into the world.

Ruth grew depressed after this, and had sworn that she was never going to have anymore children; she never wanted to feel this much pain again. Norman however, _knew_ that it was a certain person's fault.

 _If only Ponyboy wasn't born; then we'd be happy_.

And the North's and the Curtis's never spoke to each other again...until Ponyboy grew up.

 **AN: So that's why Mr North hates Ponyboy? Still, poor little Pony :(  
I checked out **_**Gone with the Wind**_ **from the library yesterday, and whenever I look at the book, I think of Johnny and Ponyboy when Ponyboy is reading the book! I literally screamed when I saw it. Stay Gold everybody, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter :)**


	4. Something's wrong with Pony

**Hey guys! I'm sorry for not updating for a week, but I was away! I'm back now, and thank you for all of the continued support!**

Jemi North wasn't beautiful, at least in Ponyboy's mind she wasn't.

She had thin, dark hair that went just past her shoulders, and a very thin body. Her face had no color to it, except for her lips which were the lightest shade of peach. Her eyebrows were thick, and her eyes were big.

Jemi's eyes were gray, though if looked at from another angle, they could be called light blue. The girl's eyes were complimented frequently: not because they were beautiful, but because they were…strange.

Her eyes fitted her personality, since Jemi North was strange too. Nobody knew why, but she was just considered a strange girl. Not that Jemi had a problem with that.

It wasn't her natural looks that made Ponyboy think of Jemi any less. He considered Jemi as okay-looking. But since Jemi wore thick eye makeup as well as bright red lipstick, Ponyboy thought that Jemi lost her natural beauty. A lot of other boys however, would say different.

Jemi certainly wasn't the cafeteria lunch lady; that woman had thick, curly golden hair, and her lips were much bigger. Her breasts also suited her figure, whereas if Jemi had breasts as big as the lunch lady's, she'd probably fall over constantly.

But Jemi didn't care; she was her own person.

Ponyboy sometimes saw her when he walked home from school after a talk with Mr North, her father.

She seemed gentle and softly gazed at Ponyboy whenever he had a split lip or black eye. She smiled at him, but Ponyboy never smiled back.

Jemi knew what her father was doing to the poor boy, however as much as she resented her father's choices, she'd still choose her dad over Ponyboy. She didn't think of Ponyboy much or at least she tried not to. It became harder when Norman North came home from work and told Ruth about what he had been doing to the boy, while Ruth cheered and celebrated.

Ruth hated Ponyboy just as much as her husband did; North had convinced his wife that it was all Ponyboy's fault that their baby had died, and if Ponyboy hadn't have been born, then they would have all been happy.

Sometimes, Ruth had dreams of her baby that was never born, and in each dream, she saw the baby growing up with Ponyboy as its best friend. The gender of the baby changed, though it was usually a little boy; that's what Ruth and Norman had wanted anyway.

The woman always said that she hated Ponyboy and she wished he was dead, however somewhere inside her, she knew it wasn't Ponyboy's fault.

Norman North had those thoughts too.

XXX

"Could Ponyboy Curtis please come to the principal's office?" Mrs Waiters, the school secretary, called.

Everybody turned around to look at Ponyboy when he slowly stood up. Mr Syme nodded at Ponyboy; giving him permission to leave the classroom.

Ponyboy ambled out of the classroom, but was stopped by Mrs Waiters with her large hand.

"Mr Ryans is _very_ angry with you. You had better not say anything funny." She warned, and Pony nodded.

" _Not like I was going to say anything anyway._ " Pony thought angrily in his head.

Mrs Waiters marched through the hallways, leaving Ponyboy to trail meekly behind her. Finally when they reached the outside of the office, the secretary turned around and glared at Ponyboy.

"Go right in; he's waiting." She ordered, and left the boy on his own.

Ponyboy swallowed, and after taking a deep breath, he pushed the red door open. Pony was sure that he hadn't done anything wrong, but he must have done something if Mr Ryans was very angry with him.

Mr Ryans was sitting at his desk with his arms folded. He had a scowl on his already stern looking face, and Pony immediately took this as a bad sign.

"Please, take a seat." Mr Ryans said calmly, motioning to the two seats that were positioned in front of his desk. Pony strolled over to the left seat and sat down while Mr Ryans eyed the boy up and down for a minute.

Then, without saying anything, he placed a large can of spray paint in front of Pony.

Ponyboy stared at the can, confused. Why was he being shown this?

"Can you please tell me what this is, Ponyboy?" Mr Ryans asked, the scowl not leaving his face.

"Spray paint?" Pony answered.

"Yes, it is. I'm assuming it's the same can you used to vandalize the school with? Because if not then it must have just magically appeared!" Mr Ryans laughed, though he certainly wasn't amused.

"Vandalized the school?" Pony squeaked, his forehead starting to get clammy.

"Oh don't play stupid with me, Curtis!" Mr Ryans yelled, and Ponyboy shrunk back, terrified, "I know it was you! Mr North saw everything, and I'm glad he came to me before I decided to punish innocent people. How dare you?! How dare you vandalize our school?!"

"Sir, I really don't know-"

"Curly Shepard and Mark Jennings I expect this behavior from, but not you! Johnathan Cade would be more likely to do this than you! I thought that you wanted to make something of yourself, but you're just like the rest of your kind!" Mr Ryans screamed, and Pony shut his eyes to try and stop himself from breaking down into tears in front of his principal.

After a few deep breaths, Mr Ryans looked up at Ponyboy who had calmed himself down enough that he wouldn't start crying.

"You're not suspended, but you will serve two days a week of school detention for the next three weeks. You will also clean the wall that you have vandalized. Your brother will be getting a call after school aswell." Mr Ryans declared.

"Sir, I really didn't do anything wrong." Ponyboy tried, but Mr Ryans waved him away.

"Detentions will be on Wednesdays and Fridays after school for an hour. You can clean the wall during your detentions." Mr Ryans said, "I sure am glad that Mr North spotted you."

"I bet you are." Pony hissed, low enough so that Mr Ryans didn't hear him.

Ponyboy walked back to his English class as slowly as he could; right now he felt lousy and miserable and suddenly wasn't in the mood for English anymore.

The boy quietly shut the door behind him and sat down in his seat. A few whispers were heard around the classroom, and the soc who was sitting next to Pony nudged him. Ponyboy nudged him right back a lot harder than usual, surprising the soc.

The youngest Curtis had track today, however he knew that he wouldn't get very far with his bruised hip. He had no other choice: he had to skip.

Pony hoped that nobody would find out, but what he was more worried about was his plan. How was he going to get out of school?

Darry would surely find out, and Pony knew that he'd be in a great deal of trouble anyway: the jeopardized math test, the spray paint incident, and now skipping class!

But as the bell for last period rang, Pony knew he had no other option. He _had_ to skip.

And there was one person who Pony knew that had no trouble getting out of school. That person was Two-Bit Mathews.

"Hey, Two-Bit, I need some help," Pony called as everybody started shuffling to their next classes.

Two-Bit, who had an unlit cigarette dangling from his lips, looked up and smiled; he'd always promised that he'd help a buddy, and Pony was certainly was one of his buddies.

"What d'ya need?" the hood asked, putting the cigarette behind his ear.

"I need help in skipping school." Pony said plainly, and Two-Bit's head jerked up; this definitely wasn't like Pony.

"Any particular reason?" Two-Bit questioned suspiciously, eyeing Pony up and down.

"Nah, I just…f-feel like skipping," Pony replied quickly, not at all liking the way Two-Bit was looking at him. It suddenly felt as if Two-Bit had turned into Darry; questioning him about everything and giving him suspicious glances.

Two-Bit wasn't tall for his age, but considering Pony was small for his age and Two-Bit was almost eighteen, Pony felt intimidated.

"Well, your big brother sure wouldn't like that. Pony, I don't know what's goin' on, but you've been acting kinda funny these past few days. You know that you can talk to any of us-" Two-Bit started, but Pony cut him short.

"I'm not a kid!" Pony snapped indignantly, "I'm doin' perfectly fine by myself, thank you! I thought you were supposed to be my buddy, but it turns out you're exactly like everyone else! I'll just ask Curly to help me."

Pony started walking away, but Two-Bit grabbed his sore arm.

Pony hissed in pain and shoved Two-Bit off him, however the shove took Two-Bit by surprise and he ended up tripping and falling on the floor. Pony stomped his foot on the floor and then stormed off, while Two-Bit remained on the ground.

Some people who ended up passing by pointed and stared. Steve Randle was among the people who walked past, and when he saw one of his best friends on the floor, he was over there in a second.

"What happened, buddy? You trip?" Steve asked, turning Two-Bit over.

Two-Bit looked up at Steve, and Steve sensed something was wrong; Two-Bit wasn't smiling. He instead, said five words that shocked Steve a lot:

"…There's something wrong with Pony."

 **And here's the fourth chapter! I hope you enjoyed, and again I'm sorry for not updating for over a week! I'll be updating soon. Can anybody give me any ideas? I'm a little stuck on ideas! Stay Gold :)**


	5. You're hurting me, Soda

**I do not own The Outsiders. S.E. Hinton does :)**

 **By the way, thank you to everybody who has favorited, followed and reviewed this story so far! I can't thank you all enough :D**

"He did what?! Are you sure that it was Pony? It doesn't sound anything like him!" Darry shouted down the phone to an agitated yet slightly frightened Mr Ryans. Since Darry only had half a day at work, he had come home to relax. However, when 3 pm struck, he got a phone call from Ponyboy's principal, and the phone call left Darry feeling anything but relaxed or happy.

So far, Darry had learnt that Pony had gotten under 20 % on his math exam, he had vandalized the school, and now he had skipped class! Boy was Darry going to have words with that kid when he got home.

Meanwhile, Pony was hanging out with Curly and Mark, and all three boys were smoking outside some video store. Pony didn't particularly want to be hanging out with a pair of hoods, but since they had helped him get out of school he thought it would be impolite to decline their request when they asked him to hang with them.

"So, I heard you vandalized the school. Nice goin', Curtis," Mark chuckled, raising his hand in the air for a high five. Pony however, just stared at Mark.

"Was it actually you, Ponyboy?" Curly asked, flicking some of his ashes on the ground.

"No; Mr North framed me. As always," Pony muttered, and Curly and Mark looked at each other.

"What an idiot," Mark remarked, slowly putting his hand down.

Ponyboy sighed and looked around. He felt as if someone was watching him, but he didn't know who. He decided to forget it for now, though he couldn't shake the suspicious feeling off himself.

Steve and Two-Bit, who were just opposite the street in a record store, ducked when Ponyboy looked around. When he returned to his normal position, the two men stood up.

"So…what do ya think he's doin'?" Two-Bit questioned Steve, who glared at his older friend.

"What's it look like, idiot? He's clearly a hood," Steve snapped, trying to peer around Mark to see Ponyboy, "Why else would he have skipped school? You're just makin' a big fuss over nothin',"

"Well, if I remember clearly, it was _you_ who wanted to follow Pony in the first place," Two-Bit sniggered, seeing Steve's face turn slightly red.

"I only _suggested_ it!" Steve replied indignantly, though it didn't stop him from trying to look at Pony.

When Mark finally moved, Two-Bit and Steve watched Pony with yearning eyes. Steve smirked when he imagined Darry's reaction after finding out that Pony had skipped school to hang out with Curly and Mark. Better yet, he thought of Soda, and how disappointed he would be if he saw Pony gradually turn into a hood.

"Wait til Soda hears about this," Steve said to Two-Bit, but Two-Bit shook his head.

"I think he already has," Two-Bit pointed to Sodapop who was walking down the street with Sandy.

As soon as Soda laid eyes on the two hoods and his baby brother, he grasped Sandy's hand hard and rushed over to Ponyboy, whose face had gone whiter than ever.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Ponyboy?!" Soda yelled, towering over his little brother.

Curly and Mark had already left when they spotted Soda coming towards them.

"I was just…" Pony kept trying to think of good excuses, though his mind had gone blank. He felt people who were walking past him stare at him, and felt his cheeks flush.

"Don't think up of excuses, Ponyboy! Darry called me at the DX because he was worried and angry; he said that you'd skipped school as well as vandalized your school's walls! And now I find that you've been hanging out with two of the worst hoods in Tulsa? What is wrong with you?!" he shouted, and Pony felt his blood boil.

Soda wasn't like this. Soda never judged Pony for who he was. He never hollered at him like Darry. Soda was supposed to understand. He wasn't supposed to act like another Darry, who barely gave Pony any room to breathe. He was supposed to act like Soda, and right now he wasn't acting like Soda at all.

"Ponyboy, you really shouldn't worry your brothers like that. You're lucky you have two brothers who care about you so much," Sandy chimed, and that was the last straw for Pony.

"You shut your damned trap, you slut! Don't try and tell me what to do when you're probably screwing a different guy every night!" Pony screamed.

Pony didn't even know where all that came from. It felt like everything that had been upsetting him and frustrating him were all coming together. He didn't mean to yell at Sandy like that, he just felt so lost and miserable, and Soda wasn't making it any better for him by yelling at him.

The young boy felt all the anger wash away however, when he saw Sandy's china-blue eyes sparkle, though it wasn't a good sparkle; it was the kind of sparkle you get when you cry.

"Sandy…" Soda whispered, but Sandy tore her hand away from her boyfriend and bolted down the sidewalk, away from the two brothers.

Ponyboy watched her for a moment, and then looked up at Sodapop. Soda had balled his hands up into fists, and for a moment Pony thought he was going to take a swing, but he didn't.

Instead, Sodapop grabbed Pony's arm and began marching down the sidewalk, to their house. Ponyboy tried to ignore the pain that Soda was inflicting on him, though he couldn't stop the gasps that were coming from his mouth. Sodapop didn't say anything until Ponyboy shrieked when Sodapop touched one of his sensitive bruises.

"Aww, am I hurting the baby? Well I'm sorry if I'm hurting you, little boy, but you've been a very bad baby," Soda cooed, but his tone was anything but gentle. He sounded as if he was mocking Pony, making Ponyboy want to cry.

Some kids from Pony's school saw Pony being dragged down the sidewalk by his big brother, and a lot of them laughed and pointed at the brothers.

"Soda…please stop," Pony begged.

"Am I embarrassing you? Well, think about how you made Sandy feel, huh? I don't think she felt very decent when you said that to her. Anyway, I'm simply just walking my _baby_ brother home. What's wrong with that?" Soda said coldly, and Pony gave up with trying to reason with him.

The pain in Pony's right arm was getting more painful, until he eventually had to say something.

"Soda, you're hurting me," Pony stated quietly, and Soda looked down at him, but didn't reply, and just kept his grip fixed on his youngest brother.

Pony squirmed around, but Soda wouldn't loosen his grip on his kid brother. He eventually did talk, though Pony wished that Soda wouldn't talk at all.

"Darry's real mad at you. I wouldn't be surprised if he whips you," Soda asserted. Pony just kept staring on, not bothering to answer, " _I_ have a mind to whip you, after the way you spoke to Sandy back there! You owe her an apology, and if you don't apologize, then I might just be tempted to carry out with my threat,"

" _Get Mr North to apologize to me, and then I'll apologize to Sandy._ " Pony thought sadly.

He felt as if he was trapped with nobody to talk to. Soda probably wasn't even concerned about him anymore; he was just concerned about Sandy.

"I bet if Sandy abused me then you'd just let her, as long as the two of you were happy," Pony spat, but shut his mouth quickly. Why had he just said that aloud?

Soda stopped abruptly, making Pony stumble slightly. The sixteen year old remembered the other day, when he had saw all of the bruises on Pony's arms, as well as the paleness of his little brother's skin and the small scars on his face. He realized that Pony wasn't okay, and maybe he was just making it worse.

The teenager looked down and saw Pony try to hide his face in his free arm.

" _You're hurting me, Soda_ ," The words echoed in Soda's mind, and he gently let go of Pony's arm.

Pony immediately rubbed his arm where Soda had been grabbing him and tried to hide his face in his shoulder; he wanted to cry but he was worried that Soda would be mad at him.

Sodapop watched his little brother carefully, and his own anger washed away aswell. Before, he saw a bad-tempered brat, but now he saw a hurt little boy. And that hurt little boy was his baby brother.

"Pony, I'm sorry for not letting go when you asked me too," Soda said softly. Pony sniffed but didn't look up.

"S'okay, Soda. Sorry for making you hate me, I shouldn't have been so horrible to Sandy," Pony whimpered.

Soda crouched down in front of Pony and put his thumb under the boy's chin and tried to coax him into looking at him, but Pony firmly kept his head down.

"Baby, I'd never hate you. I shouldn't have been so rough with you before, I just lost my temper like you did," Soda expressed sadly.

Pony put his head up and Soda smiled at him, though he didn't smile back.

"Soda, do you love Sandy more than you love me?" he asked, wiping away the tears from his eyes.

Soda placed his hands on Pony's shoulders, and shuddered at the statement that Pony had made before.

"I love Sandy a lot, but you and Darry will always come first. I love you and Darry," Soda gulped, "and mom and dad more than anyone else in the world. And by the way, I'd never let anybody abuse you: Sandy, Steve, _Darry_! I'd never let anybody hurt you," Soda vowed, and wrapped his arm around Pony.

Pony put his arms around Soda's neck and let some tears fall, but Soda didn't care that Pony was crying, and just brought his little brother closer. Pony cuddled into Soda's embrace and didn't feel so sad anymore, though of course it still dawned on him that he had math tomorrow. Well, he'd worry about it when it came.

After a few minutes of just standing there in the street embracing, Soda decided to head home. He carefully stood up while lifting Pony up at the same time, making sure to be gentle since Pony's hip was still very sore. Pony buried his face in Soda's warm neck, happy that his brother had forgiven him. He was still going to apologize to Sandy tomorrow though, since it would just be stupid of him not to; Pony wasn't a brat, and he didn't want anybody to think of him as one.

Sodapop carried his little brother home, and the whole time he spoke to Pony in a soothing manner. Pony's tears dried up, and the boy found himself giggling at some of Soda's childish stories that he claimed to have happened in the DX. One that really got him laughing was one that happened a few weeks ago, where Steve had managed to break one of the gas pumps, so seeing as Dally owed him a few favors, he told his boss that it was Dally, and boy did Dally get Steve good!

After the longish walk home, Soda set Pony down on the porch and put his hand on his little brother's shoulder.

"I'll try and tell him to go easy on you, okay?" he offered, referring to Darry.

"Okay," Pony agreed, and smiled when Soda patted his head.

After a few minutes of tapping his foot impatiently on the porch, Pony's head jerked up when Soda ambled out of the door.

"Come on, let's go in; he's not gonna yell too much," Soda sighed, placing his hands on Pony's shoulders and guiding him through the door.

Pony sure as hell hoped Darry wouldn't yell a lot, because if he did, Pony knew he'd break down.

 **AN: Here's the fifth chapter guys! I understand that nothing really happened in this chapter, but don't worry because things will progress in the next chapter! I hope to be updating this story at least every two days, so you should get an update by Wednesday. Hope you enjoyed and Stay Gold everyone :D**


	6. Who are you afraid of?

**I do not own The Outsiders. S.E. Hinton does :D**

Ponyboy took a deep breath before letting Soda guide him into the living room.

Darry was standing next to the sofa, arms crossed, with a stern glare on his face. Pony gulped and felt like running to his room, however since Soda had his hands firmly planted on Pony's shoulders, he didn't have much of an option.

Soda let go of Pony's arm and gave his younger brother a sympathetic glance.

"I'll leave you two to sort things out," he announced, "I'll head out, okay Dar?"

"Okay, little buddy. Be back for dinner," he answered, smiling, and then directed his attention back to his younger brother.

The youngest Curtis sighed; why did Darry never call him any affectionate nicknames? It was always 'Pony'.

When Sodapop left, Darry made Ponyboy sit down in front of him.

"So, I assume you know what this is about?" he asked sarcastically.

"Before you say anything, the only thing I did was skip. Somebody changed my exam answers and framed me for vandalizing the school," Pony rambled.

Darry cocked an eyebrow at his younger brother.

"Well, why did your math teacher see _you_ vandalizing the school? And I think he would have stopped the person who allegedly changed your test answers," he stated bluntly.

"He's lying," Pony muttered.

"I can't hear you!" Darry yelled, making Pony flinch back.

"Nothin'," he whispered.

"Right…punishment wise: you're grounded for three weeks, and your books will be taken away for a week," Darry declared.

"What?! That's not fair!" Pony exclaimed.

"You're just lucky that Mr North convinced Mr Ryans to not put this on your record! And he's letting you retake the exam. You're lucky you've got such a kind teacher," Darry said angrily.

Pony felt like crying; he was being punished for crimes he hadn't even committed!

"He's lying though, Darry! I swear I never did any of it!" Pony cried.

"Just go to your room, Ponyboy. I can't deal with you right now,"

"Why won't you believe me?" Pony questioned tearfully.

"You heard me Pony: room, now," Darry replied in the same calm voice.

Pony swiped his hand over his mouth angrily, and stood up. He purposefully bumped into Darry's arm on the way past, though Darry let it slide; he wouldn't be happy if he was grounded for three weeks, whether he deserved it or not.

The youngest Curtis angrily punched the wall, though all's that got him was a throbbing right knuckle. He let tears slide down his face as he angrily kicked his desk with so much force that he chipped the wood, but the boy was too angry to care right now.

Darry put his hands over his ears; trying to block out the sounds of Pony attacking things. He wanted to go in there and hug Pony and tell him that it was okay; however he knew that he needed to give Pony the impression that he was extremely angry with him.

When Pony was exhausted after messing up his and Soda's room, he slid down the wall and rested his head on his knees and sobbed. He so badly wanted to tell his brothers what Mr North was doing to him, however he remembered his teacher's threat and decided against it. Besides, Darry probably wouldn't believe him anyway.

In the living room, Darry heard that Pony had stopped. He decided to go into his brother's room to see what Pony was doing now. The man quietly opened the door and saw Pony on the floor.

He stopped walking towards his brother when he saw Pony rubbing the bruises up and down his arms.

"Geez Pony, how did you do that?" Darry asked, horrified.

Pony's head snapped up and he quickly threw his jacket back on.

"Do what?" he replied quickly, turning his head away from Darry.

Darry slowly edged closer to Ponyboy until he was standing in front of him. He knelt in front of his brother and tried to raise his sleeve, but Ponyboy angrily slapped his hand away.

"Leave me alone!" he shouted, though it sounded more like he was begging.

"Please let me see it, Pony; I'm not gonna hurt you," Darry said softly.

"No! Go away, please!" Pony pleaded, and started crying again.

Darry pushed himself back, but put his hands on Pony's shoulders. He started rubbing them gently, and when Pony's cries were reduced to whimpers, he attempted at raising Pony's sleeve again and thankfully Pony let him.

Once Pony's right arm was exposed, he raised Pony's left sleeve. The two arms looked symmetrical since they both had a lot of bruises on the two of them.

"How did you get these?" Darry repeated gently.

Pony raised his head, eyes widened, and shrugged.

"Please, Pony; I just want to help,"

"Socs," Pony answered. Darry nodded his head; now that he thought of it, it probably was the socs. Who else could it have been?

"Why didn't you say so? Well, I'll talk to Dallas and Tim Shepard about sorting it out with the socs; I'm sure they'll be glad to help," Darry stated.

Pony sighed in relief; Darry had bought his excuse. He just hoped that Darry wouldn't start having second thoughts and started questioning him again; he didn't want to blurt it out that he was being abused accidentally.

"Well, I have a date coming tonight, I'll call you out when it's dinner time," Darry said standing up.

Pony's mouth dropped open in shock.

"You have a date? With who?" he asked excitedly, forgetting about Mr North for the time being.

"You'll see," Darry simply replied, tapping his nose. He walked out, but not before rubbing Pony's hair; just because he was annoyed didn't mean he didn't love his baby brother any less.

 **XXX**

"Curly!" Tim yelled, staring at his younger brother who was nuzzling some thin brunette girl's neck.

"Tim, I'm a little busy," Curly muttered.

"Well, in case you're forgetting: this is _my_ bedroom!" Tim shouted.

"Yeah, but you have the biggest bed. I thought you'd be cool with it," Curly stated.

Tim groaned loudly and stomped out of the bedroom, making sure to slam the door. He could hear the brunette girl giggling and Curly murmuring something, so he banged on the door loudly.

"You are such a pain!" he asserted aggressively.

Angela, who had heard everything, came out of her room and looked up at Tim, smiling.

" _I'm_ not a pain, am I Tim?" she chuckled.

Tim ignored his sister and just stormed past her, into the living room. Angela followed Tim into the room and sat down next to him.

"What do you want?" he thundered.

"Who are you afraid of?" she asked. Tim raised his eyebrows at her.

"Nobody," he answered, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Curly knows who Ponyboy's afraid of," Angela said.

"Is it a certain soc?" Tim guessed, but Angela shook her head.

"It's one of his teachers: Mr North," she told him, and Tim gulped.

"Mr…North?" he stifled. She couldn't mean his old math teacher Mr North, right?

"Yup. Pony hasn't told him why, but apparently he's real mean to him," Angela explained. She felt happy that Tim was actually listening to her for once.

Tim shuddered and stiffly stood up, making his way to the front door.

"Where ya goin'?" Angela called.

"To get some beer," Tim replied loudly, and shut the door behind him, leaving his sister confused.

 **XXX**

After wandering around town with Steve for a few hours, Sodapop headed home and brought Steve with him.

"So how mad was Darry?" Steve asked, scratching the back of his neck.

"He was pretty angry. I hope he wasn't too hard on Pony," Soda remarked, jiggling with the door handle.

Steve sat on the sofa while Soda went to his bedroom to check on Pony. Pony was curled up on their bed, asleep, and Soda noticed that none of Pony's books were on the shelves.

Soda quietly tiptoed into the kitchen. He saw Darry cooking on the stove, and crept over to his brother.

"Soda! Don't scare me like that!" Darry hollered.

"Darry, where have Pony's books gone?" Soda asked, not bothering to apologize to his brother.

"Oh, I've confiscated them," Darry answered simply.

"Isn't that taking it a little too far, Dar?" Soda tried, but Darry shook his head.

"No, he needs to learn that actions have consequences. Anyway, don't get involved with how I punish Pony; that's up to me to decide," Darry stated bitterly and turned away from his brother.

Soda narrowed his eyes at Darry's back, and angrily shook his head.

Steve looked up when he saw his best buddy stomping into the room with an angry glare on his face.

"Sup, buddy?" he questioned.

"Nothin'," Soda responded and sat down on the sofa. He growled when there was a knock at the door.

"For goodness sake!" he shouted, and walked over to the front door and pulled it open.

"Can I help you?" he asked, putting on a fake smile.

The person standing in front of him was smaller than Soda. She was thin, and had big, gray eyes.

"My name's Jemi," she said, sticking her hand out, "Jemi North. I believe that your older brother is my date for tonight?"

Ponyboy, who had heard the front door slam, rushed out. His jaw dropped when he saw who the woman was.

"And I see you're Ponyboy. My dad has been telling me all about you,"

 **AN: What do you think of the plot twist? I wonder why Tim seems afraid of Mr North? Sorry for not updating since Monday! Again, please tell me what you think about the chapters :) And also, thank you to everybody who has favorited, followed, and has been reviewing this story. I can't thank you all enough :D!**


	7. The first date

**I do not own The Outsiders. S.E. Hinton does :)**

 **BunnyluvsU: Haha, sorry if you got confused. In chapter 3 with the flashback, it says that Jemi was born soon after Darry was. You may have got confused with the lunch-lady? :D ~ By the way I'm glad you like the story :) ~**

"How long has Tim been in there?" Curly asked Angela, who was sitting outside her eldest brother's bedroom with her legs crossed.

"Since he found you in _his_ bed with that girl. Well actually it was a little after, but I bet you caused it," Angela spat.

"Just asking. I'm gonna go talk to him," Curly said, but Angela grabbed his ankle.

"You can't! He's really upset; he hasn't stopped drinking and I think he was crying. _You_ know that if you go in there, he'll kill you," she hissed, but Curly shook her hand off.

"He can't stay in there forever. Besides, I want to see if he has any spare cans left over," he stated, and opened the door.

Angela darted off to her bedroom, not wanting to witness her dumb brother getting killed by her other brother. If the police asked, she saw nothing.

Tim was surrounded by beer cans. His eyes had red rings around them and were swollen, and he was awfully pale. He didn't seem to acknowledge his brother's presence.

"Hey, Tim," Curly greeted, sitting down next to his brother on the bed.

Tim didn't say anything in response.

"You're not mad at me are you? I didn't think you'd get so upset over me having your bed," Curly mumbled, and Tim shook his head.

"I'm not mad about that, Curls. I'm just thinkin'," Tim muttered, lying down on the bed.

"Well, okay," Curly responded, unsure how to comfort his brother. They weren't into that mushy brotherly stuff like the Curtis brothers were, "You got any spare cans?"

"There's some under the bed. Don't take more than two," Tim warned. Curly did as his brother told him, not daring to take an extra can. He knew that his brother's emotions could change very quickly if somebody got on his bad side, and Curly didn't want to suffer Tim's wrath.

"Hey Tim," Curly called back to his brother who had now curled up into a fetal position on his bed.

"Mmm?" Tim murmured.

"You're alright," Curly commended, before shutting the door gently.

The words might not have meant much to a person from a functional family, but since the two brothers quarrelled constantly, Tim felt his heart swell up when Curly said that to him.

 **XXX**

"So, what's your job?" Soda asked Jemi, spooning some potatoes onto his plate.

"Well, I haven't got a proper job at the moment, but I volunteer at shelters. I want to go to college; I'd like to follow in my dad's footsteps and be a teacher," Jemi explained, and Pony sneered.

Darry glared at him, but Jemi just smiled.

"What would you like to be, Ponyboy? My dad says that you're very talented, though he says you struggle with math. He wants to offer tuition, but that's up to you," Jemi grinned, and Pony bit his lip.

"Tuition? That would be great, but we don't have any money," Darry sighed.

"Oh no, dad said he'll do it for free,"

"Darry, I don't want to," Pony piped up, but Darry wasn't listening.

"Your dad seems like a great man! I'd like to meet him," Darry beamed, stroking Jemi's bony hand.

Pony sunk down in his seat, his head in his hands. Why was his teacher trying to make his life miserable in every way possible?

"Don't worry Pony; dad doesn't bite," Jemi chuckled.

"I bet he doesn't," Pony mumbled, quiet enough so nobody heard him.

"Dad wants to invite the whole family to dinner. Hopefully sometime this week," Jemi announced.

Darry smiled, Pony whimpered, and Soda shrugged at Steve.

"What will the rest of the gang do, Dar?" Soda asked.

"I bet they can survive without us for one night. Anyway, they can come into the house anytime they want, they know that," Darry answered, his gaze fixed on Jemi.

"Why's your name spelt weird anyway?" Ponyboy remarked; he didn't like Jemi already. The boy tried to ignore the glares that Darry was giving him.

"It's short for Jemima, sweetpea," Jemi giggled.

"Do _not_ call me 'sweetpea'," Pony demanded, and Darry banged his fist on the table, alerting everybody in the household.

"Quit being a brat, Ponyboy. Why are you being so difficult tonight?" Darry bellowed.

"Why don't you ask _Jemi_? Or will you be too busy sucking each other's faces off?" Pony challenged, standing up.

Sodapop gasped and Darry's head jerked back in shock. Even Steve was startled at Pony's choice of words. Jemi however, just chuckled.

"Don't worry; I'm not going to take your big brother away from you, if that's what you're thinking, darling," she crooned.

"Quit talking to me like I'm five! What the hell are you even thinking Darry? She's a monster. A _monster_!" Pony cried, "Just like her sad excuse of a father!"

"That's enough! Leave right now!" Darry shouted.

"Yes, please leave," Pony said calmly to Jemi.

"Ponyboy! Get out now!" Darry repeated, but Jemi stood up and put a hand on his shoulder.

"It's okay, Darrel. I believe that I'm not wanted here. Besides, your brother is more of a priority to you; it appears he has anger problems which should be addressed,"

"Your family should have their problems addressed, you psycho!" Pony screamed.

Soda stood up and gently wrapped his arms around Pony's chest.

"I'll talk to him, Dar," Soda declared, pushing a struggling Ponyboy into their bedroom.

"You can't leave Jemi, not now. Pony just had an outburst; he'll be okay after Soda's talked to him," Darry begged, holding onto Jemi's arm.

Jemi sighed, shaking her head.

"Isn't he a little old to be having tantrums?" she asked, sitting back down beside her date.

"Like I said – he'll get over it once Soda's had a word with him,"

"Well…okay. Pony doesn't seem to like my dad much," she stated, and Darry hesitantly nodded. "How about you all come to dinner _tomorrow_ at our house; since tonight hasn't been the best," she smiled nervously.

Darry grinned and pulled her in for a hug.

"I'm so happy to have someone who understands," he murmured into her thin hair.

" _I understand. I understand everything. And you will too, very soon. Not until dad's satisfied though, or at least until he's caught,"_ Jemi thought sadly.

The truth was: Jemi didn't at all like what her dad was doing. She thought it was twisted, and she knew it would break Ponyboy's heart, as well as others around him. But Jemi loved her parents more than anything in the world, and she was willing to do anything to please them. Just as long as they were happy; it didn't matter about anybody else.

In Pony and Soda's room, Soda was trying to restrain an angry Ponyboy.

"Ponyboy, stop it now!" he pleaded, wrestling with Pony's arms.

Pony tried to kick Soda's legs in an attempt to get him off, but Soda was stronger than he was.

Finally, Soda managed to get Pony's waist between his knees, and managed to pin the boy down. Pony was fighting hard, not wanting Soda to yell at him or even scold him.

"Darry, can you help me?" Soda called, "I've got Pony now,"

"Well then _you_ comfort him. He never wants my comfort, and that's fine, I don't want him anyway," Darry shouted back.

He had meant to say, "I don't want to see him," but instead he said, "I don't want him," and Pony took the words into consideration.

Even Soda seemed shocked at Darry's response, even more shocked than before when Pony was having an outburst. He looked down at Pony, and expected to see anger, sadness or shock on his face, but instead he saw nothing.

Literally nothing; Pony's face held no emotion whatsoever.

"He didn't mean it, Pony, you know he didn't," Soda said, but Pony just shook his head.

"Yeah…" he replied, and wriggled out of Soda's grip and went to his bed. Soda let him go for once.

"I'll be…in the living room if you need me," Soda smiled gently, but Pony didn't turn around, just lay on his side and breathed out deeply.

Soda swallowed his saliva and stepped back into the living room, only to see that Darry and Jemi had drank nearly a full bottle of whisky in the short time that he was in his room with his little brother.

"We got any vodka, Soda?" Darry slurred, poking Jemi's covered shoulders.

"Nope," Soda spat, and stormed out of the house to have a cigarette.

He felt like going back inside when he saw Tim Shepard walking towards the house; Tim did not look happy at all.

 **AN: Wonder why Tim's at the house? That was kind of sad for poor Pony :( Thank you to everybody who has reviewed, favorited and followed this story so far! I can't thank you all enough!**


	8. Comfort from a hood

**I do not own The Outsiders. S.E. Hinton does :)**

 **Thank you to everybody for the continued support for this story ;) By the way, feel free to comment any ideas for upcoming chapters; you reviewers inspire me!  
Just a trigger warning: This chapter contains references of self-harm and dark themes.**

"Hey Tim," Soda greeted nervously, throwing his cigarette on the ground and stubbing it, "What brings you here?"

"I need to talk to Ponyboy," Tim stated bluntly.

Soda shifted on his feet nervously; what did a Shepard want with his little brother?

"Why?" Soda asked suspiciously. Tim sighed in annoyance.

"I just need to talk to him - on his own. It's important, and it won't take too long," Tim stated, tapping his foot.

Soda raised his eyebrows but went inside to get Pony; even though he didn't want his baby brother talking to Tim Shepard, he knew that it was Pony's choice. Besides, Tim didn't want to take him anywhere, and Soda knew the Shepards usually kept their word as long as they were talking to fellow greasers.

When Soda turned on the light in his and Pony's room, he saw Pony bundled up in their blanket. Soda sighed sadly and sat on the bed next to his baby brother.

"Little buddy, Tim's outside; he wants to talk to you," Soda said softly.

Pony untangled himself from the blanket and sat up. Soda noticed that his eyes were red, but underneath his eyes were big gray circles. Pony usually had dark circles under his eyes, but they had never once been this dark. Had Soda been sleeping while Pony was awake and afraid to go to sleep?

"Tim? Alright," Pony muttered weakly, standing up. He stumbled slightly, feeling a whirl of dizziness pass through him. Soda caught Pony before he could fall, and when he did he didn't let go.

"You're sure you're alright?" Soda question worriedly.

"M'fine, Soda," Pony spat, and pulled free from Soda's arms that were around his body, "Quit worrying about me!" and with that, the young boy ran away before Soda could stop him.

Soda swallowed; why had Pony been pushing himself away from people so much lately? What was he hiding? And why was he hiding it from the gang and his brothers?

The teenager glanced into the living room, and saw Darry and Jemi making out. When Darry had told Soda that he had a date, Soda was overjoyed, but taking a good luck at the two together, he didn't think they suited each other.

It was different with Sandy; both Sandy and Soda had known each other for a few weeks before they started getting intimate, but it seemed that Darry and Jemi were rushing into things, and Darry was never like that. What had Jemi done to win his heart almost instantly?

And that's when Soda realized; it was the alcohol. Darry hardly ever drank, so Jemi must have begged him to drink the whisky, and then got herself drunk. Or maybe she was faking it?

"No! This is stupid!" Soda shouted, smacking his forehead in frustration; he felt bad for jumping to conclusions over Jemi, especially when she had been so nice. What harm could she do anyway?

Outside, Tim was chewing on his fingernails; a habit he had when he had been withdrawn from a cigarette for too long.

Pony finally came outside to the porch. He had wrapped a thin blue blanket which he had found on the sofa around himself; he was shivering violently and besides, the blanket smelt of his parents.

"Hey," Tim said after a while.

Pony was shocked; whenever Tim spoke to him he was usually very aggressive, but he seemed quite calm now.

"Hey," Pony responded.

The two stood there for a moment, just staring at each other, until Pony broke the silence.

"Can I ask what this about?" he squeaked.

Tim chuckled, though it wasn't the usual bitter laugh he had when annoyed or bored, and it wasn't the deep thundering laugh he had when he was high or drunk. His laugh was just…normal.

"What's Mr North done to you?" he asked straightforwardly.

Pony gasped; how did Tim know about Mr North?

"He…he hasn't d-done anything to me," Pony stuttered.

" _Don't_ play games with me, Ponyboy," Tim growled, a lot more angry this time, "What has he done to you?"

"I'm telling the truth! I don't even know what you're talking about! Mr North is just my teacher; he's never hurt me or anything! I don't know what you're talking about!" Pony cried, tears threatening to spill.

"You do know what I'm talking about, Ponyboy. If you tell me, I won't tell anybody what kind of a twisted guy he is if you don't want me to. But if you don't tell me, then I'll go tell Darry that you're a liar and-"

Tim didn't have time to finish before Pony broke down crying, hot tears spilling from his greenish-gray eyes. There was no point in trying to hide anything; Tim already knew. The young boy collapsed on the porch and sobbed; he didn't even care how babyish he looked.

As a member of a dysfunctional family, Tim wasn't quite experienced with comforting people. Sure, he had given his siblings a few hugs in their lives, and managed to calm Curly down after he was first beaten by their stepfather, but that was about it.

But seeing Ponyboy Curtis, the usually happy yet quiet boy, sobbing his heart out, made Tim feel really bad.

"Hey Pony, c'mon now, it's okay; I'm not gonna tell anyone," Tim said softly, crouching down next to Pony who was still lying on the ground, "Please, just tell me what he does to you,"

Pony continued to cry, though after a while he began to calm down. After he had stopped sobbing, Pony sat up and faced Tim, who sat down next to him.

"He hits me, he tells me I'm useless, he frames me for things I haven't done, he changes my exams so I fail. Hell, his daughter's dating Darry now! He makes my life hell, Tim!" Pony whimpered, clawing at his left arm.

Tim grabbed Pony's right hand, and gently placed it back down onto Pony's lap.

"You can't beat yourself up about it, Pony. If you do that, he's won; you're basically agreeing with him. You should tell somebody," he asserted.

"No…not yet. If it gets too bad-"

"Too bad? What, so you'll just let it go on until he nearly kills you? What if he does kill you, Ponyboy? You won't be able to say anything then!" Tim shouted, low enough so nobody inside could hear him but loud enough to get his point across.

"It's not that easy!" Pony cried, wiping his eyes.

Tim took a deep breath and put his hand to his mouth.

"I know," he affirmed gently.

"Huh?" Pony responded, eyes wide with confusion and anxiety.

Tim nodded and let his arm drop.

"When I was in the ninth grade, I had Mr North for math," he explained; cringing at the sound of his voice, "He was the best teacher ever! For real; he made me feel special since I was different from everybody else,"

Pony nodded slowly, unsure where this was going; Mr North the best teacher ever?

"One day, he asked me to stay behind after school. He said he needed help with cleaning up the classroom, and I agreed. And we did, but then…" Tim's voice trailed off, until only the blowing of the wind could be heard between Pony and Tim.

"But then…?" Pony signalled for Tim to finish.

Tim gulped and sighed heavily.

"He touched me, Ponyboy. And he warned me that if I told anyone, then he'd find me and hurt me again, and then kill me and the rest of my family," Tim gasped, covering his mouth with his hand again.

The threat sounded very similar to Ponyboy. He then remembered that Mr North had said something along those words the very first day that he started abusing Pony.

"Aww Tim, he never did _that_ to me! Didn't you tell anybody?" Pony asked tearfully. A wave of nausea passed through Pony's stomach, but he clutched his stomach tight and it went away.

"No," Tim answered sorrowfully, hitting the wood with the palm of his hand, "I didn't have anybody to talk to. But you've got people who care about you, Ponyboy; you can stop it,"

Pony bit his lip, desperately wanting his lip to start bleeding. Eventually crimson leaked from his bottom lip, but he wasn't satisfied; he liked the pain, but this pain wasn't enough. He needed something else; something else that would satisfy his needs.

"He started hitting me after he touched me," Tim sighed, running a hand through his dark hair, "But everybody thought I was fine; after all, I was Mr North's _favorite_ student, and everybody knows that most greasers have bad home lives,"

Pony breathed in deeply. For some reason, he felt guilty that Tim had been abused, even though it happened over three years ago; before Pony even had Mr North as his teacher. But still…maybe everything was his fault.

The youngest Curtis saw the pain that he was causing everybody: Darry had to give up college to look after his two brothers, and he always yelled at Pony, so it must have been Pony's fault!

Steve hated Pony because he always took Soda away; if Pony wasn't there, then Soda and Steve would be much happier.

Perhaps Mr North was simply doing everybody a favor; maybe everybody would have been better off without Pony.

These thoughts whizzed through Pony's head; making it clear that he wasn't needed. Nobody needed him; he just caused them pain.

" _Mr North was right, I should never have been born,_ " he thought, a stray tear falling down his pale cheek. He wiped it away angrily; why should he be crying when all's he did was hurt people?

"Thanks Tim, I'll think about what you said," Pony thanked, standing up.

Tim smiled at him and nodded.

"You can talk to me about it; I know what he does. If you can't tell Darry or Soda, then just walk home with Curly or somethin'" he said, standing up and walking away.

Suddenly, Jemi burst out the door and onto the porch.

"Ponyboy! You've been out here for ages; we thought Tim had taken you somewhere!" Jemi exclaimed, glaring at Tim.

Tim glared right back and raised his eyebrows.

"I don't do that to friends. And by the way, I don't know why you're here, you psycho freak. Don't act like you care; I heard that witches don't care about anything except for themselves and their evil gremlin fathers," he hissed, and then nodded for Ponyboy to go back inside.

Pony did so, and scrabbled through the door earnestly; not daring to disobey Tim; sure he trusted him, but that didn't mean he was any less scared of him.

By the time he had made it into the living room, Soda already had him around the waist.

"I didn't think you'd be _that_ long!" Soda cried, hugging Pony to his chest.

Pony moaned; Soda was squeezing his ribs too tight. He couldn't take the pain anymore, and screamed loudly. Darry came running in, not completely sober, and grumbled when he saw Pony.

"Don't be so loud; _some_ people are trying to sleep!" he growled, and slammed the door shut.

Soda apologized to his baby brother and kissed him on his head.

"Come on, baby, let's go to bed," he commanded softly, putting a hand on Pony's shoulder, but Ponyboy jerked away. Soda was shocked.

" _After_ I've brushed my teeth," Pony told him, and went marching off to the bathroom.

When Jemi came in and saw that everybody was gone, she decided to go home. She'd come back tomorrow; after all, they were having dinner at her family's house.

Her parents had prepared a surprise; they said that the surprise was bound to break Ponyboy Curtis, and they said that Jemi was involved. Jemi didn't know what the surprise was, but she didn't like the sound of it.

In the bathroom, Pony ran the cold water, letting it gush through the sink. When he was sure that all's people could hear was the running water, he looked though the cabinet until he found what he was looking for: a razor.

He admired the object for a moment, letting it glisten in the white light, and then put it down next to the tap. The razor reflected on the metal tap, and Pony smirked.

The youngest Curtis removed his shirt and tossed it onto the floor, and then did the same with his jeans and shoes, until he was standing in just his underwear.

When Pony looked in the mirror, he saw purple and blue bruises covering his small body. And above all that, he noticed just how skinny he looked; he had _never_ looked this thin. His ribs were clearly visible; sticking out in an ugly way. And his skin was far too pallid for his own liking, making him gulp. That same nauseous feeling that he had before when talking to Tim came back, and it wouldn't go away.

After taking a deep breath, Pony picked up the razor and immediately lightly slid it along his arm, but then he stopped abruptly. He instead decided to place the razor on his left thigh, and let the razor guide itself.

Pony hissed in pain, but he felt happy; knowing that he was being punished for all of the wrong that he had done. Self-discipline was what he referred it to.

Remembering Tim's words, Pony felt a little bit of guilt wash right through his heart:

" _You can't beat yourself up about it, Pony. If you do that, he's won; you're basically agreeing with him."_

Well maybe Pony _did_ agree with Mr North. And besides, he'd stop after a little bit. Just a little more pain. Just a little bit more…

 **AN: I'm not sure about this chapter. Hopefully I didn't make Tim too out of character :) I hope you all enjoyed it though! I wonder how dinner will go at the North household? What is Norman and Ruth's surprise? Again, thank you to everybody who has favorited, followed and reviewed this story; I can't thank you all enough! :D**


	9. The Surprise

**I do not own The Outsiders. S.E. Hinton does :)  
Thank you to: ****Jessieklove** **,** **Pony'sgirlfriend** **,** **BunnyluvsU** **,** ** TheOrangeHokageOfTheLeaf ****,** **GreaserG1rl201** **,** **MiniHorseMeadow** **,** **BiggestJohnnyFanStayGold** **,** **Zarak** **,** **cookieswafflesandfanfic** **,** **milou03** **,** **Iamafanoftoomanythingstoname** **,** **KageDanza** **,** **Dani** **and** **FrankElza** **for reviewing the last chapter. Thank you to everybody else who has reviewed previous chapters, has favorited and followed this story. I can't thank you all enough :D**

 **XXX**

Darry watched Soda pick at his breakfast. He looked hot and clammy, and he hadn't even been bothered to take a shower.

"You okay, little buddy?" Darry asked, sitting down opposite Soda.

Soda shook his head and looked up at Darry, pushing his plate of eggs away.

"I'm really worried about Pony, Darry. Last night, he didn't even want to sleep with me. I got up and went to his room, and he said he was too old to be sleeping with me now," Soda explained, chewing his bottom lip.

Darry sighed, annoyed that most things that Soda said were now mostly about Pony.

"Well, maybe he's right. He's not a baby anymore, Soda, and he's gotten used to having a firm attitude with me. Maybe it's better this way," Darry replied, sipping his coffee.

Soda stared at Darry with wide eyes; when had Darry agreed with Pony about having a bed to himself? He was usually the one who encouraged Pony that it didn't matter how old he was; he could always go to one of them.

" _You're_ the one with an attitude problem, Darry!" Soda shouted, standing up, "Since you and Jemi have been on _one_ date, you've been acting so mean towards Pony! Do you care about her more than us?!"

Darry glared at Soda, something he hardly ever did.

"Watch that tone, little man," he warned, but Soda hit his hand on the table in frustration.

"Have you seen Pony, lately? He's a mess, Darry! And you're too busy with _Jemi_ to care," he asserted.

Darry stood up and pushed his chair under the table angrily.

"Don't take this out on Jemi; she's been nothing but kind to the both of you, and this is how you repay her by saying stuff about her? And I can't believe Pony called her dad all those names yesterday, when he offered to tutor Pony! You two really need a reality check," he exclaimed before storming back to his bedroom.

Soda sighed and grabbed the counter for support; he was feeling really sick. It was mainly to do with worry for Pony, but he also felt sick thinking about Pony's and Darry's relationship; their relationship was worse than before.

After grabbing a cool glass of water, Soda sat at the table and sipped on his drink slowly. Pony stumbled out of his room a few minutes later, with a pair of gray sweatpants, a fluffy sweater and a jacket. He had thick socks on, and big pair of boots to go with them.

Soda tilted his head to the side in confusion; it was warm and sunny out, why did Pony look as if he was dressed up for winter.

"Wrong season, buddy," he chuckled, but Pony didn't make any indication that he was going to change his clothes.

Pony wasn't just trying to hide the cuts that ran up and down his thighs; he was also trying to hide the numerous bruises that were everywhere on his little body.

The young boy took a seat next to Soda, but when Soda offered him some breakfast, he refused almost straight away.

"You okay, honey?" Soda questioned. Pony nodded, trying to sink further down into his chair. Soda frowned; what was wrong with his little brother? Why was he being so…distant?

Before Soda could say anything else, Darry came back into the living room.

"You're grounded, Ponyboy. Go back to your room," he ordered, and Pony stood up, but Soda gently held Pony's wrist.

"He hasn't even eaten, Darry," Soda responded in Pony's defence, but Pony tugged his wrist away.

"I'm not hungry, Soda," he complained.

"If you're not hungry, then go to your room and study," Darry said sharply, and Pony loped off to his old bedroom. Soda narrowed his eyes at Darry.

"What the hell, Darry?! Do you not even care that he's sick? Look at the state of him!" Soda yelled, but Darry shook his head.

"He needs to think about what he's done wrong," Darry stated unemotionally, and went through the drawers to find something.

Pony lay back on his bed with his hands behind his head, thinking about Darry. Darry acted like he didn't even care about Pony anymore. Then Ponyboy thought about it…maybe Darry really didn't care anymore.

Maybe he never even cared in the first place; after all, Pony was just a burden and another mouth to feed; his brothers would be better off without him. Or so Pony thought.

Suddenly, Pony's bedroom door opened, and Darry stepped in with a scrap of paper and a pen. Pony looked up, silently asking what Darry was doing.

"I want you to write an apology to the North family. All of them; you'll read it out at dinner to them, tonight," Darry said, handing Pony the paper and pen.

"Darry, please don't make me-"

"If you don't do it, then you might just push me to my limit, Pony. I've had enough of you lately," he said coldly.

Pony felt like crying; why had Darry become so horrible lately?

"Okay," Pony answered miserably, and went to his desk and began writing.

Darry was confused; he was expecting Pony to start a fight, to throw a fit and say that he wasn't writing the letter. But he was just doing it. And Darry felt concerned.

He wasn't blind; Darry saw that Pony was distancing himself from everyone, and the miserable looks that he constantly wore broke Darry's heart. But he just tried to ignore it; then he could act like nothing was wrong. He didn't think that Pony wanted his comfort; but Darry was wrong this time. He was so wrong.

"Well uh, I'll leave you to it," he said awkwardly.

Pony just nodded and rubbed his eyes, and then continued writing.

Darry sighed heavily, and then reached out and rubbed Pony's hair gently before backing out into the living room.

The youngest Curtis looked at the spot that Darry had been standing in. Why weren't they close anymore? Why did they always argue over stupid things?

Pony thought about school, and how Darry was desperate to get Pony into college.

" _Maybe he just wants to get rid of me,_ " he thought sadly, brushing away the tears that fell down his face.

His attention was then directed to the apology letter. He badly wanted to write his real feelings, but he knew that Darry would be mad, so he decided not to.

The brothers' mom and dad always taught their boys to never lie. Pony knew that he had failed them; he had failed everybody.

 **XXX**

"It's wonderful to meet all three of you! Jemi has been telling my husband and I all about you, though of course Norman already knows Ponyboy," Ruth laughed, kissing all of the Curtis brothers as they walked through the door.

Soda sighed; he so badly wanted to be with Steve, who he hadn't seen since the night before when he left after Pony had the outburst. He wanted to be with the whole gang, not with this strange family.

"Please, take a seat, all of you," Norman North offered, standing up.

All brothers did so: Darry was next to Jemi, Pony and Soda were next to each other, and Norman and Ruth were on the opposite ends of the dining table.

"Can I just say: before we all start, Pony has something to say," Darry announced, looking at Pony and raising his eyebrows.

Pony pressed his lips together and pulled out the thin piece of paper, which he had kept in his pocket. Soda looked from Darry to Pony, wondering what on earth was going on.

After clearing his throat, Pony started:

"Dear Mr North, Mrs North and Jemi, I am very sorry what I said yesterday. I am sure Jemi told Mr and Mrs North all about it,"

Norman and Ruth smirked, while Jemi looked at Pony sympathetically.

"I was angry, however that was no excuse for what I said," Then Pony gulped, "I'm sure mom and dad would be disappointed in me. Jemi, I'm sorry for having that outburst during dinner yesterday, and it won't happen again. You are not a psychotic family; you're human beings like everybody else. And nobody," he stopped for a minute to glare at the family, "has a right to make anybody's life miserable. Again, I am deeply sorry for my actions, and it won't happen again,"

Everybody was silent for a minute. Pony looked as if he was about to cry, Ruth and Norman were smirking like there was no tomorrow, Jemi had her hand covering her mouth, Soda was shocked, and Darry was smiling; unaware of the pain he was causing Pony.

"That was wonderful! We forgive you," Ruth chuckled, though to Pony it sounded very bitter and distrusting.

"See, Pony? Doesn't that make you feel better?" Darry said.

Pony sniffed and nodded; he wasn't about to make Darry angry while they were all having dinner. Darry was happy, and so far that's all Pony cared about.

Soda sadly gazed at Pony, and then looked at Darry who was looking under the table. The teenager was unsure of what Darry was looking at, so he looked down, and saw Jemi rubbing Darry's knee with her hand. He gagged, earning a glare from his older brother.

"So, Darrel, have you considered this math tuition for your brother?" Mr North asked.

Darry smiled and Pony shook his head desperately, but to no avail.

"I think it's a great idea! I can't thank you enough; you've been so kind, but sadly we haven't been able to offer anything back," Darry stated; the last part was directed at Ponyboy who glared at him.

"Oh, it's no worry, honestly," Mr North grinned.

"And it would be a great way for you and Ponyboy to sort out your differences," Jemi added, sipping her wine.

"Oh yes; I'm sure it will be great," Mr North's eyes glistened, and Pony sunk down in his seat. Soda rubbed the back of his little brother's neck for comfort, and Pony nestled into the touch.

"Quit acting like a baby!" Darry snapped. Pony sat up and Soda glared at Darry; wondering why on earth he was acting like this.

The rest of the dinner was spent with everybody eating, talking, drinking and joking. Ponyboy did none of this; he didn't even eat and just claimed that he wasn't hungry; though he was secretly worried that the family had tampered with his food.

When Norman and Ruth stepped into the kitchen to talk and Jemi went to the bathroom to wash her hands, Darry turned his attention to Pony.

"Why won't you eat anything? Are you trying to make a fool outta me?" he questioned in an angry whisper.

Pony just shrugged; he didn't care what Darry had to say anymore.

Soda wanted to tell Darry to lay off of Pony, however he didn't want his brother to turn on him also.

When the North family took their seats again, Norman nodded at Ruth, who smirked.

"Ponyboy, would you like to come and help me carry the drinks in? Jemi, would you mind giving us a hand?" Ruth asked.

Pony shook his head and politely declined, but Darry raised his eyebrows at him.

"Don't be impolite, Pony. Go help," he affirmed, giving his little brother a warning look.

Pony sighed sadly and got up and followed Ruth to the kitchen, with Jemi following behind.

Soda huffed in annoyance and crossed his arms. He wondered briefly about kicking Darry under the table, though Darry would probably ground him.

In the kitchen, Ruth prepared the drinks and Jemi helped her, while Pony scanned around the kitchen.

He noticed black and white family photos covering the walls. A lot of them were the whole family together; however he spotted one of Norman, Ruth and Jemi when she was about six, though Ruth was pregnant in the picture.

Pony tilted his head to the side; did the North's have another child? If they did, then they would have been around his age, right?

He then spotted a picture of a baby wrapped in a baby blue blanket. The baby had a scar on its forehead, and its eyes were closed. Looking next to that photo, he saw the same baby in a different photo. This time, Ruth was holding the baby, but she was crying. Norman was next to her, holding a teddy bear. He was trying desperately to smile, though an idiot could tell that he had been crying. Jemi was next to them, smiling at the camera, not knowing what on earth was going on.

The youngest Curtis realized what had happened, and he saw the North's _did_ have feelings. But looking at Ruth and Norman at the moment he was eating dinner in their house, he felt hatred bubble up inside him. He didn't feel sorry for them; he felt sorry for their baby.

After Ruth had arranged all of the alcohol on the counter, she told Jemi to shut the door. Ponyboy was snapped out of his thoughts when Ruth dragged him forward by his wrist. Her husband had been abusing Pony for over two weeks now, but this would be the icing on the cake.

"Jemi, come over here," she ordered, once she was sure that Pony wouldn't be able to escape.

Ruth told Jemi to hold Pony's arm while she looked for something. Jemi obeyed, looking at Pony sympathetically. She had no idea what this was about either.

After Ruth had searched through the drawers for a minute, she produced a large kitchen knife. Pony and Jemi both gasped; she wasn't going to stab Ponyboy, was she?

Pony closed his eyes and braced himself when he felt Ruth grab his arm harshly, however nothing came. When he opened his eyes, he saw Ruth hand the knife to Jemi, who blinked at her mother confusedly.

"Put a nice big gash on your stomach and arm, Jemi," Ruth demanded.

Jemi's eyes widened, as did Pony's.

"Mom, I don't think-"

" _Now_ Jemi - or me and your father will never speak to you again," Ruth spat.

Jemi hesitantly held the knife to her stomach, but made no move to cut herself. Ruth scowled and shoved Pony to the ground, and then grabbed the knife off Jemi and cut her daughter.

Jemi screamed, and Ruth dropped the bloody knife to the ground; splattering Pony's face with crimson in the process.

Darry, Soda and Norman came running into the kitchen, and all of them gasped at the sight.

"Your brother has just stabbed my daughter!" Ruth cried, holding onto Jemi, "He tried to stab me, but I pushed him before he could! He would have murdered Norman aswell!" she screamed.

"I didn't! I didn't! She's lying!" Pony shouted, begging for his brothers to believe him.

Jemi by now had collapsed on the floor, sobbing and clutching her stomach in pain. Blood smeared her light gray sweater, which had a big slash in the middle, and sweat poured from her forehead.

"Who was it, Jemi?" Norman questioned, inwardly smirking.

The girl took deep breaths, and gazed at Pony tearfully before uttering her answer:

"It was…Ponyboy," and then she passed out.

 **AN: And that's the surprise. Poor Pony :(**


	10. You'd be happy, I'd be happy

**I do not own The Outsiders. S.E. Hinton does :)**

 **Thanks to everybody who has reviewed, favorited and followed this story! I can't thank you all enough :D**

Pony woke up hot and clammy. He felt somebody stroking his hair, and when he looked up he saw Soda sitting next to him. The lights were on; revealing Pony's pale skin and red eyes.

"Soda, what happened?" Pony croaked.

"You passed out at dinner. You must have been overwhelmed," Soda replied sadly, putting his hand on Pony's forehead.

"Where's Jemi? And Ruth and Mr North?" he asked, hoping it was all just a bad nightmare.

Soda breathed out heavily, and fixed the bed sheets for Pony.

"They're at the hospital; you were holding the knife and you tripped and there was an accident. Ruth said it was your fault, but Jemi said you didn't mean it," Soda said softly.

"I swear it had nothing to do with me! They framed me! You believe me, don't you?" Pony begged, feeling tears come to his eyes.

Soda sighed and gently wiped Pony's eyes, then hushed him softly.

" _I_ believe you; I don't trust that family. I'm not sure about Darry though; when we got home he just put you to bed and then went to bed himself," he explained.

The youngest Curtis tried to get out of bed, but Soda gently pushed him back down.

"Not now, little buddy. You can see him later, okay?" Soda offered, and Pony nodded, but made no attempt to go back to sleep, "Come on, Pony, let's go to sleep,"

Soda eased down next to his baby brother and pulled him right up against his chest. Pony closed his eyes and clung to Soda's shirt; he was glad he had such an understanding brother. Soda rubbed Pony's back, and soon they were both fast asleep.

In Darry's room, the oldest Curtis was struggling to sleep. There was no way that Pony could be so clumsy to almost kill Jemi, so he must have done it on purpose. Or maybe he didn't do it at all.

Darry let tears fall; not knowing who to believe. Jemi wouldn't just stab herself to get Pony into trouble, so it must have been Pony's fault. It had to be!

Perhaps Pony wasn't as innocent as Darry thought he was. Or maybe Darry just wanted to ignore the real truth.

 **XXX**

"Come on, Pony, time for school," Soda alerted, shaking Pony gently.

Pony moaned and grumbled, pulling his pillow over his head. Soda chuckled.

"Alright then, have it your way," Soda grinned, and pretended to walk out of the room.

After about a minute, Soda jumped onto his and Pony's bed and started tickling Pony mercilessly. Pony squealed, trying not to scream; his sides and ribs were in a lot of pain.

The youngest Curtis squirmed and thrashed, and then ended up rolling off the bed and onto the floor.

Soda laughed and crouched beside his little brother, and rolled him onto his back. He was shocked when he saw the tear stains on Pony's cheeks.

"Pony, are you okay?" Soda asked worriedly. Pony bit his lip to stop himself from breaking down and bawling.

"Help me up," he demanded, a little rougher than he intended.

Soda obeyed, and pulled Pony up by his arm. Pony winced, but again he stopped himself from crying.

"Come on, let's go get breakfast," Soda said, tugging Pony along with him, but Pony pulled back.

"Actually, I'm not very hungry. I'll just go get ready," Pony replied hurriedly, and locked himself in the bathroom before Soda could pull him back.

Darry came strolling out of his own room with his work clothes on. He didn't look happy; he looked really tired and miserable.

"Hey Darry, want some breakfast?" Soda asked, trying to keep Darry's mood from changing to angry. As long as Darry wasn't angry, Pony wouldn't be upset.

"No. Where's Ponyboy?"

"He's gone to get ready; he doesn't feel hungry," Soda answered, poking the egg in the pan. He didn't feel too hungry either; not with the tension in the household.

"Right, well I need to talk to him. The kid needs a good talking to and if-" his words were cut short by the phone ringing. He groaned and made his way over to the phone before harshly pulling the wire, bringing the phone with it. "Hello?" he said, not bothering to put on his formal voice.

"Hello, Darrel. This is Norman," Mr North said, and Darry's eyes widened.

"Oh sorry, sir-"

"Call me Norman or dad, whichever you prefer," he chuckled.

"Right, Norman, is Jemi okay?" Darry asked anxiously.

"Don't worry; she's fine. She was just a little shocked, but the doctors are keeping her in for another three days, just to be safe," Mr North explained.

"Good, good. Listen, I'm so sorry about what happened last night, I'll get Pony to apologize to Jemi," Darry promised.

"Jemi's already forgiven the boy; she said he didn't mean for it to happen, which I believe. Ruth's a little wary, but she'll get over it. Anyway, I wanted to ask if you're still considering this tuition program,"

Darry gasped, and then looked at the closed bathroom door.

"I didn't think you'd want to tutor Pony after what happened," Darry responded honestly.

"Don't be silly; good friends _always_ forgive, and since we're considered _family_ , of course ya'll are forgiven," Mr North replied.

"I'm speechless, really," Darry said. How could a family be so kind?

"So, is that a yes, _son_?" Mr North asked.

"Yes, Norman," Darry smiled.

"Great, how about the tuition starts tonight after school? For say…an hour? Pony won't need to go home; I'll just keep him at the school,"

"Sounds great," Darry grinned, and hung up the phone.

Pony, who was dressed for school, came ambling out of the bathroom with a glum look on his face. The shower had not refreshed him; he still looked ill and exhausted.

"Who was on the phone?" he questioned Darry weakly.

"Mr North; you're starting tuition tonight after school," Darry told him, and both Pony and Soda looked at Darry with wide eyes. Soda because he was confused as to why the Norths would be so nice to Pony, and Pony because he knew that Mr North probably wouldn't tutor him; but use the time to his sick pleasure.

"But Darry…" Pony whimpered. Darry scowled.

"I don't want to hear it, Ponyboy. I don't know how a family can be so nice, but they can. And they're giving you a chance to redeem yourself, and all's you can say is 'But Darry'? I'm sick of this, Ponyboy," he hissed angrily.

"Uh, guys?" Soda chimed, but they acted as if he wasn't there.

"You didn't even bother to ask me if I wanted to do it! It's never about me is it?" Pony complained.

"I'm simply doing this for your own benefit," Darry said.

"Really? I bet if you weren't dating Jemi then you wouldn't be bothered,"

"Don't even try to pin this on Jemi! You could have killed her last night, and yet her dad is still giving you another chance,"

"Well then I just won't go!" Pony affirmed.

"Oh you'll go alright, because if you don't, then I'll skin you, Ponyboy. And I'm being serious this time," Darry threatened.

"Guys please!" Soda intervened.

"Go ahead; why don't you just go and kill me. Or why don't I just go and kill myself? It wouldn't make a difference would it; just as long as you and your girlfriend get to live happily ever after!" Pony yelled.

"You're right! Why don't I just get rid of you; stick you in a boys' home or something. You'd be happier then, wouldn't you? And frankly, so would I!" Darry hollered.

Soda gasped, as did Pony, but Darry was far too angry to care.

The oldest Curtis stormed out of the house before anybody could say anything else. Soda looked at Pony who was now shaking slightly.

"Come on, honey, it's alright. Me and Darry couldn't live without you," Soda tried, placing a hand on Pony's shoulder.

Ponyboy just shrugged and sighed, and then left the house without answering his brother. He angrily marched to school, flipping off Two-Bit who asked him if he needed a ride. Two-Bit was shocked at Pony's gesture, as was Johnny who was in the passenger's seat.

About halfway through the journey, Pony felt something pass through his stomach. He looked around desperately for a bush, and then let the bile flow right out of his mouth, before properly vomiting. He hadn't eaten properly for a few weeks now, so he was just vomiting up fluid.

After he was sure that he wasn't going to be sick again, the young boy staggered the rest of the way to the school. He met Tim, Curly and Angela on the way, all of whom offered to walk with him.

"Ponyboy, you smell of puke," Angela remarked, moving away from him.

There was only five minutes left until they would reach the school, and Pony had been walking for ten, but it felt as if he had been walking for an eternity.

"You been sick, kid?" Tim asked kindly.

"Mm," was Pony's response.

Curly and Tim raised their eyebrows at each other, but Angela was more worried about Ponyboy puking on her and quickly ran off to join her friends.

Mr North was outside, talking to some of his other students. When he spotted Ponyboy he waved and gave him a wide grin. Ponyboy just pretended he hadn't seen him, and went inside, leaving Tim and Curly staring after him.

The young boy felt the weird feeling in his stomach come back again, and very soon clear fluid rushed out of his mouth and onto the floor. This continued for a few more minutes, until Mr Syme came running down the hallway.

"Oh dear, Ponyboy! What happened?" he asked, pulling Pony off the ground.

"I felt sick," Pony responded, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Well, you can't stay in school like this. You'll have to go home," the middle-aged teacher stated, but Ponyboy shook his head.

"No, no, please sir; I'm fine now. I was just spinning around and I guess the dizziness made me throw up. Besides, my brothers aren't home," Pony lied.

"Hmm. I still don't like the fact that you've just thrown up, but if you're sure you're okay I'll let you off," Mr Syme said, and Pony nodded, "If it gets any worse, you're to go straight to the office,"

"Yes sir. Thank you so much!" Pony thanked, and ran off to homeroom.

The day passed in a blur. Even math seemed to go quick, since Pony already knew that he was going to be getting hurt anyway. The youngest Curtis couldn't get Darry out of his head though; did Darry really want him gone?

Ponyboy ended up vomiting twice at recess, and he didn't eat any of his lunch. Nobody at the table seemed bothered; they had all grown familiar to Ponyboy's miserable attitude. Steve glared at Ponyboy the whole way through school, but Pony was too depressed to notice.

The end of the school day finally came, but unfortunately not for Pony. He waited for Mr North as instructed, and the teacher led him inside.

"I'm just here for tuition," Pony announced quickly, but Mr North shook his head.

"It's just a little white lie; your brother won't mind," he claimed, and the whole process began again.

The bruises on Pony's small body just got darker and more colorful. Purple, blue, yellow and brown; it was as if the boy was a human painting. Norman seemed to have more ideas in mind however.

"Take off your shoes, Ponyboy," he instructed, and Pony looked up with wide eyes.

"No," the boy squeaked. Mr North narrowed his eyes.

"Now, or I'll do it myself," he ordered.

Ponyboy gulped, noticing the gleam in his teacher's eyes. Clearly, this was Norman taking full advantage of an innocent child. Pony wondered how Tim felt when it happened to him.

Suddenly, a loud bang was heard on the window. Norman and Ponyboy looked up in shock, and then the youngest Curtis realized he could escape.

Pony was out of the room before Mr North could blink.

"Dammit!" Mr North yelled, slamming his hand against the desk.

Tim just smiled, glad that he still had a great aim with footballs. The same thing that almost happened to Pony had happened to him once, and he had experienced the horrors of it; nobody else deserved anything like that to happen to them: not greasers, socs or anybody.

Ponyboy reached his house in record time, panting and wheezing as if he had just run a marathon. Steve was outside smoking and everybody else was inside. The young boy tried to go indoors, but Steve stopped him.

"Steve?" Pony said.

"Quit faking it, kid," Steve spat, throwing his cigarette on the ground.

"Huh?" Pony questioned, bewildered.

"I know what you're doing. You're just actin' sick so Soda will pity on you. I'm not stupid; I can see your plan. Since Darry's bein' horrible to ya, you're trying to act like the victim; like you've done nothin' wrong. Well, you have," Steve stated. "You've been pulling Soda away from me, and I'm sick of it. Darry hates you, and Soda does too; he just won't tell you because you're so pathetic,"

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Pony cried.

"All's people talk about now is _you_. Two-Bit told me about you flippin' him off. What the hell is your problem?"

"What's your problem, Steve?" Pony whispered angrily, feeling tears spring in his eyes.

"You are, Ponyboy. You're everybody's problem, including your brothers. They don't need you; nobody does," the teenager claimed, and then went inside to join the others.

Steve was just angry at the fact that Soda always seemed to talk about Pony now. He didn't really hate the thirteen-year-old boy; he was just annoyed. Ponyboy didn't know this though. He didn't know what to believe anymore.

 **AN: Sorry for the delay! I want to update by tomorrow (I like updating on Fridays), I was just studying for some exams. I had one today :( Oh well :) Thank you to everybody who has reviewed, favorited and followed this story so far; I can't thank you all enough! :D**


	11. Unneeded

**I do not own The Outsiders. S.E. Hinton does :)  
Thank you to everybody who has favorited, followed and reviewed this story so far; I can't thank you all enough!**

Almost a week had passed since Ponyboy had allegedly stabbed Jemi North in her abdomen. The day after the girl was discharged from the hospital, Darry was over at the North's house, and forced Ponyboy to join him.

"I'm sorry, Jemi," Pony whimpered, trying to avoid his oldest brother's glare.

Jemi smiled at Ponyboy and forgave him, but she felt sick on the inside; the girl wasn't an idiot: she had seen that Ponyboy's and Darry's relationship hadn't been the best before she was admitted to the hospital, but now it was a lot worse.

Darry didn't even glance at Pony the whole time they were there, and Ponyboy looked extremely upset. Jemi wanted to tell Darry the truth about what had happened, but then she realized that if she did then her parents would get in trouble. She would never ever snitch on her parents; they were too important to her.

Before Darry and Pony headed home, Darry asked Jemi if she wanted to join them for dinner. Ponyboy sighed, holding his hand against his forehead; his hand was like ice compared to his forehead which felt as if it was burning.

Jemi looked hesitant but reluctantly agreed; she didn't want to make the little greaser's life any worse than what it was, but she decided that she didn't care about him; after all: if he hadn't have been born then her sibling never would have died.

The drive home was just Darry and Jemi talking to each other; nobody acknowledged the young upset boy in the back of the truck staring out of the window, wishing for a better life.

When the three walked into the Curtis house, they were all greeted by the gang: Sodapop, Steve, Johnny, Two-Bit and Dallas. Steve snorted out loud when he saw Pony trail in miserably behind Darry and Jemi, earning a glare from Soda and a smack on the head from Dally.

"Hey, Pony," Soda smiled, holding his arms out.

Pony immediately ran to his older brother for comfort, not caring that the others were giving him confused stares. Even Soda seemed a bit shocked; sure he had held his arms out, but he never expected Pony to act so desperate.

"You alright, kid?" Two-Bit asked, concern evident in his voice.

Ponyboy just nodded his head and clung to Soda, who moved slightly and let his little brother sit on his knee.

"You sure, honey?" the teenager murmured.

"M'fine, quit interrogating me," Pony snapped, but his response was muffled in Soda's shirt.

"Baby," Steve chuckled, but nobody else shared his amusement.

Darry and Jemi walked into the living room after a few moments of silence; nobody noticed that the couple had gone out to the porch, for they were all too busy thinking about Pony. Even Dallas and Steve were thinking about him, though Steve tried to shake the vision of the kid's sad face out of his head.

"Go to your room, Ponyboy," Darry bellowed, and everybody looked up at him with wide eyes.

"Don't want to," Pony whispered, his face still hidden in Soda's shirt.

"I'm not in the mood, Ponyboy. Either go to your room now, or I'll carry you," Darry said simply.

Pony groaned but pushed himself up, however Sodapop wrapped his arms around his baby brother's tiny frame.

"Why can't he just stay out here, Darry? It's not good if he just stays in his room all the time, and he ain't doin' no harm," he protested.

"Well, I've just taken him to Jemi's house for a good two hours. And besides, he deserves it," Darry stated.

Soda was about to reply, but Pony spoke up first.

"It's fine, Soda; I'll go. I don't want to annoy Darry anymore with my presence," Pony said bitterly, but instead of returning to his own room, he went back to Soda's; he needed the comfort, and Soda didn't make him feel useless like other people did.

Jemi stared after the young greaser and swallowed; trying to get rid of any feeling of sympathy she had for the boy, but it didn't seem to work.

Suddenly, Soda let out a mad, insane laugh. Everybody was shocked, and just stared at the handsome boy who was now rolling around on the floor.

"Sodapop," Darry said calmly, crouching down and putting a hand on the boy's back. Soda sat up and stopped laughing for a moment.

"Pony needs someone, Darry. He needs _you_. And you just don't care, do you? Do you?!" he cried, and started laughing again.

Darry was worried now; Soda never acted like this. The man tried to comfort his brother, but was startled when Soda slapped his hand away.

"I'm not the one who you should be comforting, Darry! It should be Ponyboy! But you don't care!" Soda laughed.

Darry quickly stood up and left for his bedroom, and was soon followed by Jemi.

"What's going on with him?!" Darry shouted, but calmed down when Jemi put a hand on his shoulder.

"Everybody's just a little stressed right now. Ponyboy is upset because of the stress, and Sodapop has obviously gone a little crazy. But you," she caressed his chin, "You have me to talk to. And I've heard that certain things can help you deal with stress,"

The pale brunette smiled at Darry, who smiled right back at her. Maybe he just needed to forget, and she was going to help with it.

He seemed to forget everything when Jemi kicked off her shoes and started kissing him.

 **XXX**

 _Ponyboy scanned around the small room, confused. He was in a classroom, but he didn't know why. The classroom had bloody knives on each of the desks, and the blackboard was also spattered with blood._

" _Hello?" the boy called, but it echoed around the room._

 _The windows were chained up, giving him no view at all of the world outside. He tried to open the door, but it was locked._

" _Glad you could join me for more tuition, Ponyboy,"_

 _Ponyboy froze and slowly turned around. He wasn't surprised that it was Mr North, but nonetheless gasped in fear._

" _Not today," Pony responded quickly, trying to open the door again, but the sweat on his hands made it impossible for him to grasp the doorknob properly. Then suddenly the door disappeared completely, leaving only a wall._

" _We never did get very far last time, did we?" the teacher laughed, and began removing his tie. Pony screamed and tried to unchain the windows, but the windows disappeared completely too._

" _Help!" he pleaded, but the only one who heard his cry was Mr North._

" _Don't worry, I'll be nice," Norman smirked. His tie was on the floor, and he was now working on unbuttoning his shirt. "Take your shoes off,"_

" _Wake up Pony, wake up!" a voiced echoed through the classroom._

" _Soda?!" Pony called frantically._

 _Everything suddenly collapsed into dust, and Ponyboy was left alone in utter darkness. Well, at least he wasn't with Mr North. Anything was better than being with Mr North. Even darkness itself._

"It's okay, honey, you're okay; I've got you," Soda said gently, kissing Pony's forehead. Even though Pony was awake he was still struggling for dear life, but Soda rubbed his back and held his baby brother close.

"Am I okay?" Pony cried, burying his face in Soda's chest.

Soda was baffled by Ponyboy's question. What did he mean? Assuming it was just from the nightmare, Sodapop nodded.

"Yes baby, you're okay now," he mumbled, and stroked Ponyboy's hair.

Soda comforted Pony for a few more minutes, until he was sure that he was almost asleep. The teenager laid the younger greaser down, and then watched his baby brother for a moment before laying down himself.

Ponyboy waited until he heard Soda's breathing get heavier yet softer, and quietly crept out of his room. The boy was grateful for his brother's comfort, but he _needed_ Darry's comfort too.

Gently tiptoeing through the living room, as to not disturb Johnny and Dallas who were on one of the sofas, or Steve who was on the floor, Ponyboy managed to reach his other brother's room. He waited for a moment before triumphantly pushing open the door, but the sight he saw before him made him want to cry.

Darry and Jemi lay in Darry's bed together. From what Pony could see, they both had their shirts off. The two looked so peaceful sleeping there together, and Ponyboy felt that if he woke Darry up, everything would be ruined. Darry didn't need him now; Darry had Jemi. And it was clear that he loved Soda more than Pony. Ponyboy wasn't needed now.

Tears fell from the boy's eyes, but he forced himself to smile; Darry was happy now, and Ponyboy had no right to be sad because of it. Maybe Jemi would be able to give Darry happiness that Pony could never give him. The young boy knew that Darry would always love Soda no matter what, so he _really_ wasn't needed anymore. Steve was right; nothing would be different if Pony wasn't with them, in fact they'd all probably be happier without him.

 **XXX**

The next few weeks passed quickly. Mr North continued to abuse Ponyboy, Darry and Jemi still dated, and Soda grew even more worried about Ponyboy. The young boy had lost a lot of weight, and he didn't seem happy anymore.

Steve stopped picking on the boy since he seemed so miserable all the time, and Johnny tried to talk to his best friend, but Pony wouldn't tell him anything.

Darry saw this was happening, but he tried to ignore it as best as he could. Life was just easier that way, even if it wasn't for the best. One thing that had gotten on his nerves though, was the fact that Pony always seemed to be hanging out with Tim.

After school one day, Darry waited outside the school for Ponyboy in his truck. Ponyboy climbed in beside his brother, feeling happy because he thought that his brother was actually going to be nice to him. But his wish didn't come true; his wishes never seemed to come true anymore.

"You're not going to be hanging out with Tim anymore," Darry stated, and pulled out into the road.

"Huh? Darry, you can't stop me from seeing Tim!" Pony exclaimed, tears coming to his eyes.

"I can and I will. He's a hood, Ponyboy, and I'm not having you hanging out with anybody I don't trust," Darry responded.

"But Tim's my friend!" Pony cried, but Darry scoffed.

"Yeah sure, if you wanna get killed! Tim is bad news, as well as Curly and Angela, and you know it!" Darry hollered, and that was the end of it.

Pony stormed past Soda and Steve who were on the porch, and both of them looked up at Darry, waiting for him to explain.

"I've stopped him from seeing Tim. It's not my problem he has a bad taste in the friends he picks," Darry remarked. Steve and Soda glanced at each other before shrugging.

The next day, Soda sat down opposite Darry who was reading the newspaper at the table.

"Darry, Pony says he wants to do something with you today. He really wants you to forgive him," Soda explained, and Darry sighed. "Please, Darry, just go with him. It'll give you two sometime to talk,"

Darry grumbled but agreed, claiming he was only going because Soda asked him to. Very soon, Pony came out of his and Soda's room with his clothes on. He and Darry left the house without saying another word.

"Where we goin'?" Darry questioned, kicking some rocks out of the path.

"Movie house," Pony answered, and Darry groaned. Ponyboy tried to ignore his brother's groan, unsure if taking him out was such a good idea now.

The two paid; Darry couldn't be bothered asking Pony what movie they were seeing, and the two sat down in some seats near the front.

None of them actually paid attention to the movie though; they were too busy staring at each other.

"What are you looking at?" Pony croaked after a while.

"You," Darry replied. "Why am I here, Ponyboy?"

"Well, I wanted-"

" _You_ wanted. Funny, isn't it? Maybe I wanted to be out with Jemi now, but I couldn't because Soda insisted I come here with you,"

Pony gulped and looked up at Darry guiltily.

"I'm sorry," he apologized. "I…just thought I could make you happy,"

Darry scoffed and shook his head.

"Why'd you pick the movie house if you wanted to make me happy? You could have just left me, you know? I would have been perfectly fine," he responded angrily, and then pulled back and stared at the movie screen, though he didn't pay attention at all.

Ponyboy closed his eyes and breathed out heavily; he couldn't make his brother happy anymore.

Darry heard Pony's sigh and shifted his gaze to his little brother, but felt his heart break in half.

Pony was just sitting there, staring at the screen. He looked so broken and hurt, and his beautiful eyes seemed lost. The young boy had some bruises on his face, but as Darry got a closer look, he realized that the bruises weren't the only pain that Ponyboy was suffering from.

Darry couldn't remember the last time Ponyboy had smiled or the last time he had heard Pony's cute laugh. He couldn't even remember the last time his baby brother looked _happy_.

And Darry knew that a lot of it was his fault.

"Ponyboy…" Darry murmured, but Ponyboy didn't look at him.

"It's fine, just forget it," Pony answered.

Darry tried to reach out for his little brother, but Ponyboy jerked away.

"I said forget it!" Pony growled, and Darry nodded and turned away.

After a few minutes, Pony let out a whimper and quickly stood up. He bolted out of the movie house before Darry could ask him what was wrong, though Darry had already guessed.

The man took a good look at the screen, and saw that Pony had picked one of his favorite movies. Darry smiled, remembering when Pony was eight and he always used to crawl on Darry's lap and they'd watch the movie together, just the two of them. His smile faded when he realized what he had done.

It wasn't just for the fact that Darry had snapped at Pony in the movie house. It was the fact that Pony had brought Darry to the movie house to _try_ and make Darry happy with him. Pony didn't think that he made Darry happy?

"I've screwed up big time!" Darry shouted into his hands, earning a few glares from people around him, signalling for him to be quiet.

Darry ignored them and got up and left. He ran back to the house, ready to apologize to his baby brother for how horrible he had been. When he opened the door however, he was greeted with nothing.

Ponyboy was gone.

And analyzing the coffee table, Darry realized the sleeping pills that he had left there this morning were gone aswell.

 **AN: I felt like crying while writing that chapter. Poor Pony! :( I hope I wrote this chapter okay for ya'll, and I hope it doesn't seem too rushed! :)**


	12. Where he belongs

**I do not own The Outsiders. S.E. Hinton does :)**

Sodapop was whistling a rather happy tune when he arrived home, though the happiness soon faded when he found his older brother anxiously pacing around the house.

"What's wrong, Darry?" the teenager asked, stepping in front of his brother to prevent him from making a hole in the floorboards.

"P-Pony," Darry stuttered, and ran a hand over his face. Soda cocked an eyebrow.

"What about Pony? What happened while you two were out?" he asked, sounding more aggressive than he intended to.

"I made him sad, Soda. I've been _making_ him sad all these weeks. And now…now he's gone," Darry cried, resisting the urge to start bawling.

Soda's jaw clenched, and he dug his fingers into his palms; leaving red blotches on his rather tanned skin.

"What did you do?" he growled at his brother. Darry's eyes widened; he had only seen this side of Soda once: when a big kid had pushed Pony over and mocked him when the little boy was in the third grade. Soda, who was in the fifth grade at the time, started a fight with the kid and ended up getting suspended for three days, though he said that it was worth it.

"I was horrible to him, okay? And I really wish that I hadn't done it, but now we really need to find him, because –" the man swallowed, "I left some sleeping pills on the coffee table this morning, and now they're gone. I think Pony might have taken them…" he stopped after that.

For a moment, the only sound that could be heard was the clock, which seemed to be ticking faster than ever. The two brothers that stood in the room did not talk, they just stared at each other, a bit like Pony and Darry had been doing before, except the silence was filled with fear and tension, not anger and sadness.

Darry had been wondering lately, why Ponyboy had been acting so difficult. He ignored people, had started hanging out with Tim, and had been moping around a lot more. But when Darry looked beyond that, he saw that Pony wasn't the one who had a problem; it was Darry who had the problem.

Pony only ignored Darry, because Darry ignored him. He had been hanging out with Tim, because Darry wasn't there for him to talk to. And he had been moping around because something was wrong, and Darry had just let him grieve without comforting his baby brother.

" _And I thought I was doing the right thing…_ " Darry thought sadly.

He stopped thinking completely when Soda spoke.

"What if he's already taken them, Darry? What if he's already…" he didn't finish his sentence, but it was alright; Darry knew what he meant.

"Oh, God!" Darry shouted, shutting his eyes and kicking the sofa. "I'm such a horrible person!" he fell on his knees and covered his eyes with his hands, but he didn't cry; Darry never cried.

Soda was about to assure his brother that it would be okay, even though he didn't know for sure, but Curly Shepard stopped him. The youngest boy of the Shepard's had barged through the house, ready to give the brothers some news.

"I just saw Pony," the curly haired boy panted, and Darry looked up while Soda walked closer to the boy.

"Where is he? Where's my little brother?!" Soda demanded, though his brown eyes were gentle.

"I just ran into him. He said he was going to find his mom and dad, but I got worried since, you know…they're dead," the boy answered warily.

Darry stood up and glanced at Soda who glanced back. The oldest Curtis stood in front of Curly and put his hands on the boy's shoulders, making the boy gulp.

"Curly, are you absolutely sure that you don't know where Pony went?" the man questioned, shaking the boy ever so slightly.

Curly shook his head and shrugged the man off him.

"I really don't know. He was at the park when I saw him, but that was about ten minutes ago and I doubt he'll still be there,"

"It won't hurt to check it out though, right, Dar?" Soda said, but Darry wasn't listening.

Pony was going to find his mom and dad, even though they were dead? The only possible way that could happen was if he was dead, or…

"I got it! I think I know where he went!" Darry exclaimed.

Soda grinned and patted Curly on the back, but the boy flinched at the physical contact.

"Well then should we go?" Soda asked, but Darry shook his head, and Soda frowned.

"No. I need to talk to him by myself; I need to show my baby brother that I love him as much as I love you. Please, Soda; I promise I'll bring him back, but we just need to talk for a little bit," Darry begged.

Soda thought for a moment, and then nodded his head at Darry reassuringly.

"Okay, Darry. I'll be waiting for you both though," the teenager smiled, sitting down in his big brother's recliner.

Darry responded with a smile and looked at Curly, who looked up with an expression that looked…fearful?

"It's okay, Curly; we're not mad at you. Don't look like that; you're starting to look like Johnny," Darry said, and then left to find his baby brother.

Curly stared at Soda for a good minute, who stared back at him.

"Pony had some sleeping pills, but I think he already took one. I really hope he's okay," Curly muttered, and left before Soda could interrogate him.

Tears fell from Soda's eyes; he'd already taken one? His little brother really wasn't okay this time. He just hoped Darry would make it before it was too late.

 **XXX**

Darry drove faster than he had ever driven before; he was determined to find his baby brother before it was too late.

The oldest Curtis knew where he was headed: he was heading to the graveyard. He was sure Ponyboy was going to be there, he just had to be! Darry didn't know what he or Soda would do if Ponyboy was _dead_.

After swerving dangerously through the roads, Darry finally made it to his destination. The man parked his truck outside the graveyard before pushing open the large, black gates that gave off a gloomy and scary appearance.

The graves hadn't moved since last time, but it felt so different than how Darry last remembered it. He felt like something was touching him, but looking around he saw nobody next to him. Some would call it strange and creepy, but Darry liked the feeling; he felt somewhat safer.

Darrel and Shannon Curtis were buried next to each other, peacefully sleeping side-by-side. When Darry reached both his parent's graves though, he saw that someone else was resting beside their graves.

Ponyboy was curled up in a fetal position on the grass, the graves towering over him like a stone wall. The young boy looked so small, and that's when Darry realized: Ponyboy was just a kid. Dare he say a little kid, though he knew that Pony wouldn't have appreciated it if he said that.

The box of pills which Darry recognized as his sleeping pills were resting beside his baby brother. The man just hoped Pony hadn't taken any, or at least not a lot.

Darry couldn't contain his happiness when he saw his baby brother, and shouted:

"Ponyboy!"

Ponyboy, who had almost fallen asleep, shot up and in a state of panic tried to attack the air. He relaxed when he saw no threat, however when Darry started running towards him he started sprinting away.

"Leave me alone!" the young boy cried desperately, but Darry ran faster than ever.

Ponyboy was grabbed around the waist by his brother and lifted up, but due to his thrashing the two ended up falling over. Pony ended up falling against his brother's chest, making it hard for him to get away. He squirmed and even tried to hit his brother, but Darry wrapped his arms around his baby brother; preventing him from escaping at all.

Darry, who was lying on his back, raised his knees slightly so Pony couldn't kick his legs. The young boy was fighting hard, but soon became exhausted since he had used most of his energy.

"Shh baby, it's okay; I've got ya," Darry soothed, rubbing Pony's back.

Ponyboy, who was exhausted, gave a weak moan of protest before trying to push himself up again.

"You're not goin' anywhere now; I'm not letting you go," Darry murmured, holding his baby brother tighter.

Ponyboy considered giving in, but the way Darry had ignored him these past few weeks had really hit him hard. Soda probably wanted him back, and since Darry loved Soda he didn't care what he had to. Darry didn't love Pony; he was just a burden.

"Let me go! I hate you! I just wanna die, I just wanna die…" the young boy sobbed, struggling to get free.

Even though the words stung Darry's heart, he knew Pony didn't mean any of it. He couldn't want to die; he still had the whole world to see.

"I'm not letting you go," Darry repeated from before. He really meant it; he never wanted to let his baby brother go again.

Ponyboy carried on struggling, though after a while his attempts got weaker until eventually he hardly had any more energy to use. The boy dug his face into his older brother's shirt, using the last of his energy to cry like a baby.

Darry rubbed his baby brother's back and whispered sweet words into his auburn hair. Ponyboy settled down, resting his head against Darry's chest and breathing heavily. After a while, Darry felt his baby brother go limp and heard him snoring softly, and then he remembered the pills.

The man kept one around Pony while using the other to grab the box which the pills should have been in. He was grateful to see that only two were gone; two was bad but six was a lot worse.

"Let's go, baby; it's time to go home now," Darry mumbled softly, lifting Pony up and cradling him. Pony's eyes snapped open and he started struggling again.

"No," Pony said, and Darry raised his eyebrows, "I don't want to go home! I don't want to!"

"Shh, shh, it's okay; we're just gonna go home and let Soda know we're okay," Darry tried, but Pony started crying again.

"I want mom and dad! I hate home!" he screamed, and a woman who had just knelt down by her late husband's grave sadly shook her head.

"It's always the little ones who get hurt the most," she said sympathetically, not understanding anything.

Darry sighed and started carrying Pony out of the graveyard. His baby brother tried to get down, but Darry wouldn't let him go; he was scared he'd lose him again otherwise.

Once they got to the truck, Pony tried scrambling out of the door, but Darry buckled him in and slammed the door shut, and quickly got in the driver's seat. Pony felt trapped, sad and humiliated. Darry didn't know the full story; he thought he was doing Pony a favor, but really he was just bringing him back to the place where Pony had now grown resentment towards.

The drive back to the house was silent. Darry tried to comfort his little brother, but Pony just shrugged him off and stared out of the window, wishing he could run off into the sunset and never return. Life would be better for everyone then, he was sure of it.

When the car stopped in the driveway, Ponyboy tried to climb over his brother, but Darry kept him there for a moment, sitting Pony on his lap. Ponyboy just wrapped his arms around his brother, knowing that Darry wouldn't let him go even if he wanted him to.

"I love you, little one," Darry uttered gently, "I'm so sorry for ignoring you for so long,"

"Did you hate me when you ignored me?" Pony asked, "Steve said that you and Soda hate me,"

"He did?!" Darry snapped, but quickly reverted back to being gentle and comforting when he saw Pony's face twist in fear. "Don't worry, I'll _talk_ to him. But no, me and Soda don't hate you, and we never have and never will. And you know why that is?" he questioned seriously, and then tickled Pony under his chin, making the little boy chuckle, "Because you're our baby brother, and we love you so much,"

"I love you too. I'm glad you don't hate me," Pony stated, and Darry frowned but smiled nonetheless.

"I'd never hate you," he affirmed, and then opened the door and started carrying his baby brother towards the house. Towards their home.

"Jemi's not here is she?" Pony asked nervously. Darry shook his head and kissed his baby brother's head.

"No. It's just you, me and Soda, little buddy. It's just us," he smiled.

He wasn't smiling at anything else, just the fact that Ponyboy was home.

He was lost for a moment, but now he was found. And now he was home, where he belonged.

 **AN: Here's chapter 11 guys! Sorry for the delay, but I spent most of my nights practicing my piano. Hope you enjoy the chapter, and I'll try not to be so long on the next update :D**


	13. Never grow up

**I do not own The Outsiders. S.E. Hinton does :)**

 **Thank you to everybody who has favorited, followed and reviewed this story so far. I can't thank you all enough :D**

Curly sighed, kicking a rock out into the road. A few socs driving past started shouting insults at him, begging for a reaction. The curly haired greaser just flipped them off; he wasn't in the mood to start a fight.

"Don't be like that! We're just havin' fun!" a blond one purred, his eyes gleaming. Curly growled and stormed into the woods so that they couldn't follow him; he was angry, and he would kill all of them if they set him off.

Breathing out heavily, the youngest Shepard boy sat down next to a tree. He wasn't just angry; he was frustrated, sad, and jealous.

Why had Ponyboy Curtis started hanging out with Tim? Tim was _Curly's_ older brother, not Ponyboy's; he had two big brothers who weren't hoods and were really caring towards him. So why was he hanging out with Tim?

Tim never paid any attention to Curly, and the only time he did to speak to him was if he was cussing at the boy, asking him where he had put the beer, or telling him that they were going to a rumble.

True, Angela always took Tim's attention away from Curly too, but the boy had grown out of that jealousy towards his sister a long time ago. Well, not entirely, but he knew he'd have to deal with it or Tim would probably hate him even more.

But Ponyboy had no business in hanging out with Tim; he wasn't Tim's little brother, or _friend_ for that matter. He had no right to just take Curly's role model away from him, even if Tim wasn't the best role model.

Curly deserved Tim's attention more than anyone! He did everything he could to please his brother, yet Tim didn't seem to care. Sometimes, when he spoke to Tim, his brother just completely ignored him, and if he tried to speak to him again, Tim would tell him to shove off. Yet if Angela spoke to Tim, he'd smile at her and speak with her. It wasn't fair!

And now Ponyboy Curtis thought that he had the right to just take Tim away? Well, it wasn't going to happen; Curly was going to make sure of it. He wouldn't hurt the younger greaser; if he did then Darry and Sodapop would probably kill him! But he was going to have a few words with Ponyboy; just to tell him where the boundaries where when socializing with _his_ big brother.

XXX

"Soda, me an' Pony are goin' to the store. We'll be back in about an hour," Darry announced to Sodapop, whose eyes lit up. Darry noticed the excitement in Soda's eyes, so he quickly added, "No guests except for the gang are allowed,"

"Relax, relax. I was only gonna invite Steve over," Soda huffed, taking a sip of chocolate milk. Darry smirked and ruffled the younger boy's hair.

Ponyboy, who had been standing in a cool shower for almost twenty minutes, emerged out of the bathroom with his clothes on. He made sure to clean up any blood that had dripped from the wounds on his skin that the razor on the sink had caused; he didn't harm himself as much now, but every so often he needed something to help him forget about the abuse.

Darry smiled, but slightly frowned at the state of his baby brother.

Firstly, Pony was as thin as a twig. He had always been small and skinny, but he had never looked as scrawny as what he did now.

Secondly, it was summer, and Pony was dressed up for winter; he was wearing a thick sweater, heavy sweatpants and large black boots that reached his knees. On top of that, he was wearing a scarf; completely covering his pallid neck.

"Uh, Pony, you're gonna be a little hot," Darry commented, reaching out and tugging on the sleeve of the sweater. "Why don't you change into something else?"

"I'm fine like this," Pony responded, pulling away forcefully.

Darry sighed, but didn't want to argue with his baby brother in case he got upset. Instead, the man wrapped an arm around Pony and led him outside.

"Bye, Soda. And remember, nobody else except the gang is allowed over! If I find out that anyone else other than the gang has been invited over by you, I'll skin you alive," Darry called. Soda just shouted that he'd keep his word.

That response was good enough for Darry, so the greaser just assumed that Soda would keep his word and walked to the truck, leaving Pony to follow him.

The oldest Curtis tried to make conversation with his baby brother on the drive to the store, but Pony just replied with an "Mmm," every time his brother spoke. Darry got slightly annoyed at this, but decided that if Pony didn't want to talk then he didn't have to.

Things had gotten better since Darry had found Pony at the graveyard, though Pony was still as miserable as before. Darry had tried talking to him on several occasions, but Pony just told him that he was busy and left. At first, Darry had roughly pulled Pony back and demanded to not be ignored, but seeing Pony's eyes sparkle made him remember all the times that he had ignored Pony.

As the days went on, Pony grew distant from the gang more and more. He even kept his distance from Johnny and Soda, which surprised all of the gang. Steve wasn't being a jerk anymore, Dally acted like he didn't care (though he secretly did; he cared for everyone in the gang – he just didn't like admitting his feelings), Two-Bit had started going back to his own house more and more since his little sister had been very poorly, therefore not having a lot of time to worry about Pony, and Johnny tried to coax Pony into talking to him.

Darry and Soda pestered Pony day and night, desperately trying to get him to answer their questions. But Pony just shook his head and told them that there was nothing wrong. But nobody believed him, not even Pony himself.

Darry killed the engine once they arrived at the store, but instead of getting out of the truck, he just stayed in his seat. Silence filled the air, and Pony wondered if his brother had lost the plot.

After a while of just sitting there, Darry turned around and gazed at his baby brother and neither one of them said a word.

Ponyboy stared right back at his big brother, but the icy-blue glare intimidated him. The boy started squirming, and eventually had to break eye-contact, though he could feel Darry's eyes still analyzing him.

Darry watched his baby brother fidget in discomfort and chuckled slightly, and then shook his head. Pony laughed nervously, unsure of what was wrong with his brother.

"Do I scare you, Ponyboy?" Darry asked, his countenance turning serious. "Be honest; you know I don't like it when you lie,"

Ponyboy was thinking about what to say. He didn't want to upset his big brother, but he didn't want to lie to him either. The young boy swallowed before answering.

"You do sometimes," he admitted.

Darry's expression remained the same, and Pony started squirming again. The boy was sure that his big brother hated him now, so he tried to open the door and leave his brother alone. However, Darry gently held onto Pony's arm, preventing him from exiting the truck.

"Do you think I'm going to hurt you?" he questioned softly, his eyes no longer seeming dangerous. They actually looked quite relaxed and tranquilized, reminding Ponyboy of a calm stream he had witnessed when he was out exploring with his dad on his dad's birthday.

"No, I guess I'm just scared that you'll leave me one day," the young greaser answered, blushing because he felt embarrassed that he had actually believed that.

Darry sighed, letting go of Pony's arm and stroking the little boy's auburn hair.

"I'd never leave you, or Soda; you two mean the world to me. Pony, I know I yell, and I'm sorry that I do, but I just want you to go to college and get out of here while you still have a chance," he explained.

"Do you just wanna get rid of me?" that question had dawned on him for as long as he could remember; as much as he didn't want to believe it, there was always a possibility.

"No, no, of course not! I just want you to grow up and have a good future, that's all!" Darry responded; this wasn't what he expected to hear.

"I can grow up now if you want; I mean: it's not like I'm a little kid anymore. I wouldn't want to put the pressure on you," Pony said, and Darry grabbed Pony's chin; forcing him to look at him.

"Don't say that, Pony. You've still got plenty of time to be growing up. You're not gonna be grown up for a while, buddy; you're still a baby you know?" the man chuckled, earning a scowl from Pony. "Would you like to stay young forever? Maybe me an' Soda need to turn you into a baby so we can keep you safe forever. I'm sure Soda would like that idea," he stated.

It was as if the heated conversation from a few seconds ago had never happened; already both brothers were smiling.

"In your dreams," Pony grinned, opening the door and running to the store. "I can't be a baby if I'm faster than you!" he called.

Darry smiled and got out of the truck, chasing after his baby brother. It was like being in grade school all over again.

XXX

"I'm tired," Sandy yawned, resting her head in the crook of her boyfriend's neck. Soda groaned, shifting slightly so his girlfriend was lying beside him and not on top of him.

"Darry's gonna be back soon," he muttered, shoving his face into his pillow.

Sandy buried herself deeper beneath the covers, unaffected by the statement; she would leave soon, but right now she was tired.

The couple both closed their eyes and were both dozing off, until they heard the front door slam.

"Uh-oh, he's back early," Soda cried quietly, getting out of the bed and pulling on his jeans.

Sandy remained under the covers, scared of what would happen if Darry came in and saw them. He'd probably call her parents, and they'd send her away like they had tried to on many occasions; except now they had a good reason.

Soda crept to the bedroom door and quietly edged it open, being careful to not let it creak. Luckily, it didn't, and there was enough room for him to see into the living room.

What he saw in the living room shocked him. It wasn't Darry who they had heard slam the front door and walk into the house – it was Mr North!

The man was stalking around the living room, peering through the family photos of the Curtis's. He found one of just Pony and picked it up, staring at it for a moment and then throwing it on the floor. He was about to step on the glass, but thought better of it and just left the picture lying on the wood.

Ponyboy's math teacher was dressed in his usual attire; a brown suit with brown shoes. His dark moustache curved downwards, and his longish gray hair shined in the light. He didn't look intimidating…he looked formal. He couldn't do any damage to anybody; he looked more strict than anything, but he couldn't hurt anybody.

Norman peered around the house for a moment, but his eyes stopped at Pony and Soda's bedroom door. He stared directly at Sodapop while the younger boy held his breath, freezing completely. Eventually the teacher's gaze left his, and he inspected the rest of the living room before leaving, making sure to slam the door again.

Sodapop sighed in relief and turned around to face his girlfriend who was shaking. He gave her a reassuring smile, but he still had questions lingering in his mind about why Mr North was there.

"Did Darry see you?" Sandy asked, picking up her shirt off the floor and slipping it over her head. Soda shook his head.

"It wasn't Darry," he answered, picking up his own shirt. Sandy stared at him, confused.

"Who was it then? Was it an intruder?!"

"No, it was Pony's math teacher: Mr North. He came and picked up a picture of Pony and then threw it on the floor. I think he might have been looking for Pony, but he musta' thought that no-one was here," Soda responded.

Sandy stood up and got herself dressed before kissing her boyfriend on the cheek. Soda grabbed her, and they started kissing again like they were before Mr North arrived, but then quickly stopped; not wanting anything to escalate again in the same day.

"I gotta go," Sandy murmured, and then left without saying another word.

The next ten minutes were spent with Soda trying to figure out why on earth Mr North was at their house, why he had thrown a picture of Pony on the floor, and why he seemed to be looking for Pony. Every one of his conclusions were that he was doing it because he was hurting Pony, but Mr North wouldn't do that. He was a trusted member of society after all, and teachers were supposed to protected their students, not abuse them.

Soda bit his lip, wondering if Mr North did have anything to do with the bruises on his baby brother's little body. Could he have had anything to do with the fact that Pony was barely talking to anybody? Of course he couldn't…he was such a nice man.

He needed to tell Darry. Darry would know what to do; he was grown up and responsible, so he had to be able to know if something was going on. Darry would be able to sort it out as always; he was Superman after all.

After a few more minutes of waiting around in boredom and fear, Darry and Ponyboy came walking through the front door. They were both laughing and joking with each other, and Soda was glad that they were actually getting along.

Pony went to his room to do his homework while Darry went to go and cook dinner with the groceries that he had bought, however he was stopped by Soda.

"Darry, I need to talk to you; it's urgent," Soda declared, standing in front of his brother.

Darry crossed his arms and nodded, urging Soda to go on.

"Right well, I was in the house before, and-"

"Soda, what's that?" Darry interrupted, pointing to something that was glistening on the sofa.

Soda shrugged; he was unsure of what it was too.

Darry stepped over to the sofa and picked up the silvery glistening object, and held it up to Soda. He did not look happy one bit.

Soda stared at the object and then gasped; it was a charm bracelet. _Sandy's_ charm bracelet.

"Sodapop Patrick Curtis!" Darry yelled angrily, "You have some explaining to do, mister!"

He wouldn't be able to tell Darry about the curious incident with Mr North. It would have to wait, and until then, Ponyboy Curtis would have to endure more pain. But when somebody is abused for so long, they will eventually snap. Ponyboy wasn't sure how long it would be before he would finally endure enough pain…and he knew when he did he would just snap.

 **AN: Sorry for the late update! Again, I was practicing my piano a lot of the time. Anyway, please feel free to leave any suggestions for this story; I'd love to hear your ideas. And thank you to everybody who has favorited, followed and reviewed this story. I can't thank you all enough :D!**


	14. Don't let him go

**I do not own The Outsiders. S.E. Hinton does :)**

"But Darry," Soda whined, his cheeks flushing scarlet. "Corner-time is for little kids! I'm almost sixteen!"

"Soda, if you don't want to be treated like a little kid, don't act like one. Big boys do as they're told – little kids completely ignore what they're told to do," Darry stated, "Now, for the tenth time: corner, now!"

Soda groaned and stomped over to a corner in the living room, giving Darry full view of him.

"So, how long was Sandy here? Don't lie to me, Soda, or your punishment will be worse," Darry warned. Soda sighed and turned to face his brother.

"About twenty minutes, might have even been thirty," Soda answered honestly, trying to stop feeling so embarrassed. Darry nodded and his lips quirked slightly.

"Alright then, twenty-five minutes of corner time. I think that's fair," he said, and opened his newspaper. Soda's eyes widened.

"Twenty-five minutes? Darry, that's not fair at all! What if one of the gang comes in and sees?" Soda cried, thinking that the whole punishment thing was unfair. He was fifteen, almost sixteen years old. He wasn't five!

"If anyone comes in and sees then they'll know that you've done something that you shouldn't have. It's not my problem you have an issue with not doing as you're told," Darry replied firmly, and that was the end of it.

Ponyboy stumbled out of his and Soda's room a few minutes later and sat next to Darry. He was shocked when he saw Soda standing in the corner.

"Uh…?" he mumbled.

"Don't ask," Darry muttered, turning another page in his newspaper.

Sodapop turned around to face his little brother, and then noticed the picture of Ponyboy was still lying on the floor. He couldn't let it go; he had to tell Darry.

"Darry," Soda called.

"You're not supposed to speak during corner time. Turn back around," Darry said firmly, raising an eyebrow at his younger brother.

"It's important," Soda argued.

"It can wait," Darry affirmed, and then turned towards Pony. The man frowned at the color of Pony's face; it was very pale, except for his cheeks which were a burning crimson shade.

The young boy closed his eyes and leaned against his oldest brother's shoulder. Darry couldn't help but feel how small Pony felt against him, so he pulled him closer so the boy's head was resting on his knees.

Pony groaned in pain; he had an excruciating migraine, and his stomach felt as if it had some sort of fire burning through it. His jaw ached, his eyes ached and even his feet ached. All's he wanted to do was sleep, but the pain that was surging through him made it very hard to do so.

"Can I…have some…aspirin?" he asked weakly, the words dragging on.

Darry looked down at his baby brother worriedly; he really hoped he wasn't sick. The man stroked his brother's hair while keeping another hand on the boy's back.

"What's the matter, baby?" he questioned, concern evident in his gruff voice.

"My stomach and head hurt a little, that's all," Pony murmured. He weakly grabbed Darry's hand and placed it against his burning forehead. The boy rubbed his forehead against his brother's hand, hoping it would take away the pain somehow.

The oldest Curtis gasped at the warmness of his baby brother's forehead. He knew that the average temperature wasn't this high!

"Pony-" the man started, only to be interrupted by the slam of a door. In walked Two-Bit, Dally, Johnny and Steve.

"Hey, hey, Curtis brothers! How are you all…" Two-Bit's voice faded when he saw Sodapop standing in the corner. Suddenly, the greaser started laughing hysterically. Dally chuckled and Johnny smiled, but Steve's face held a glare at Ponyboy.

"Darry, please can I come out of the corner now!" Soda begged. The poor boy felt humiliated and agitated; now everybody was going to think of him as a silly little kid!

Even though Sodapop still had five minutes left of corner time, Darry decided to let him out; he thought he had been embarrassed enough.

"Bet if I was in the corner and people started laughing at me, you would've still made me stay there," Pony grumbled into Darry's leg.

Darry looked down at his little brother and was about to tell him he was wrong, but then realized that he couldn't; Ponyboy was right.

The man felt bad, mainly because Ponyboy _knew_ that Darry would make him stay in the corner. Maybe it was because Darry still saw Pony as a little boy. Either way it wasn't fair, and Darry knew it.

"Sorry," was all he could respond with. He kept brushing his hand across Pony's forehead, trying to cool it down with his own ice-cold hand.

"I'm gonna go get some fresh air," Pony slurred, standing up and making his way out to the porch. Mr North's face kept entering his slightly delirious mind, and each time it did the teacher would be laughing at Pony. The evil laugh rang through Pony's head, making him dizzy.

Nobody noticed Steve follow Ponyboy out to the porch. The teenager was slightly annoyed because he thought that Soda didn't deserve to be humiliated while the 'brat' was getting coddled by his older brother.

The boy was getting treated like the president in Steve's opinion; everybody wanted to know how he was doing, whether he was alright, and if he wanted to do something. Darry was spending more time with Ponyboy than Soda in Steve's eyes, and the teenager thought that it wasn't right.

Steve didn't even know why the young boy was getting all the attention; he didn't deserve it nor did he need it. He needed talking to; just to show him that he wasn't someone special.

Ponyboy was leaning on the wall of the house, watching the sunset which seemed so far away. He admired the different colors of it, wondering how something so simple that people saw everyday could be so beautiful.

His view of the golden orange heaven was ruined when a familiar person stepped in front of him.

"What do you want, Steve?" he asked, clearly annoyed. He was shocked when Steve shoved him harshly in the chest, knocking his head against the wall. "What was that for?!" he screamed, his vision swirling.

"I've had just about enough of you taking over everybody's lives! It's always Pony this, Pony that – from everybody! And I'm sick of it!" Steve growled, and shoved Pony again.

Ponyboy tried to fight back, but he was in too much physical pain to do any damage. He made Steve stumble backwards slightly, which made the teenager even angrier.

"Leave me alone!" Pony pleaded, tears forming in his eyes.

"Why couldn't your parents have given birth to a better kid? I mean, look at Darry and Soda; everyone likes them and looks up to them. And then there's you: the annoying, stupid, unneeded, helpless and lonely brat who nobody wants!" Steve screamed, and shoved Pony again.

Ponyboy stopped trying to fight back and just stared at Steve. Is that what everybody thought of him? Did nobody want him? Did they all just hate him?

Pony swallowed and nodded, making his way back into the house. Everybody glanced up at him, but he just gave them each a watery smile and then slammed his and Soda's bedroom door shut.

Steve waltzed in with a rather triumphant grin on his face, but then stopped smiling when he saw everybody's looks.

"What's wrong, guys?" he asked innocently.

"Pony's actin' strange," Soda replied, his eyebrows furrowed together in confusion.

"Well, he needs to grow up sometime. Just leave him alone; he'll be fine in a couple of minutes," he assured, but he felt a little scared. What if Pony told them all about what he had said? He'd be kicked out for sure.

Dally was eyeing Steve up and down. Pony was fine before he went out, but when he came back in he looked really upset, and he assumed it was to do with Steve since he had been out with the boy.

The greaser signalled Steve to follow him outside, to which Steve did so; nobody ever disobeyed Dallas.

Once they got outside, Dallas harshly pulled Steve in front of him and crossed his arms.

"What did you say to Ponyboy?" he asked, tapping his foot on the wood.

Steve paled; how did Dally know?

"I didn't say nothin'," the teenager replied, trying to keep his cool. Dallas just chuckled bitterly.

"I might be a hood, and I might have been expelled from most schools by the time I was thirteen…but I'm no idiot. I've known you for almost four years, Steve Randle, and I know when you're lying," he spat angrily, daring Steve to challenge him.

Steve sighed before opening his mouth. He considered lying to the hood, but he knew that Dallas would know if he was lying.

"Fine, I told him he was an annoying, stupid, unneeded, helpless and lonely brat that nobody wanted," he said, and watched as Dally's jaw dropped open. "Look, I just felt angry because he takes away everybody's attention when he don't need it. Look at the pressure he puts on Darry an' Soda,"

"Sounds to me like you just want an excuse to hate him," Dally remarked hastily.

"I don't hate him," Steve stated, though it was very weak. Dally laughed loudly.

"Yeah sure, okay. You've probably just made him feel like _everybody_ hates him. You know, _you_ talk about him always tagging along and not having any friends…but where are _your_ other friends, Steve? I don't see you hangin' out with anyone besides us," Dally yelled, getting more frustrated.

Steve honestly hadn't looked of it that way. He always held a grudge against Ponyboy for not getting any other friends, yet he didn't have any other friends besides the gang. And Steve didn't know what he'd do if he didn't have the gang, and he understood that Pony felt the same way.

"Fine, I'll go apologize," he muttered, but Dallas grabbed his arm.

"There's no point in apologizing if you're not sorry. You might as well just stay far away from him; if you're just gonna hurt him then there's no point," Dally asserted, his eyes shining.

The teenager didn't want to admit it, but he _was_ sorry. Very sorry. And he just hoped that he would be able to make it up to the younger boy.

Dallas and Steve walked back into the Curtis house. Sodapop had worry lines etched on his forehead, and Darry's knee kept jumping up and down. Two-Bit and Johnny were both watching TV, though perturbation was conspicuous in their eyes aswell.

Steve made his way to Pony and Soda's room and opened it without knocking. He quietly shut the door and walked up to the bed where Ponyboy was sobbing uncontrollably.

"Hey, Pony," Steve said softly.

Ponyboy removed his face from the pillow and looked up at Steve, giving the teenager a terrified look, before burying his face into the sheets.

"Hey, hey, I'm sorry," Steve tried, reaching out to the boy.

Ponyboy jerked away and jumped up, tear tracks marking his pale face.

"Leave me alone!" he growled. Steve took a step closer to the boy. "I said leave me alone!"

"It's okay, listen: what I said before wasn't true. It was a lie, and I was just angry," Steve explained.

"No, no, mom said that I should _never_ listen to anybody except for her and dad," Ponyboy shouted, shaking.

Steve stared at Ponyboy, confused. What was he talking about?

"I think you're a bit sick," Steve affirmed, taking another step towards the boy. Ponyboy shrieked and picked up one of his heavy books which he had left on his desk.

"I mean it: go away!" he warned, aiming the book between Steve's eyes. Steve gulped and tried to run out the room, but Ponyboy launched the book before the teenager could escape. Steve was knocked to the floor with a horrible pain shooting through the back of his head.

The book dropped to the floor with a large thud, and Ponyboy started throwing things around the room, sometimes hitting Steve in the process.

Darry and Sodapop heard the noises of things getting thrown, as well as Pony's cries, and ran into the room. They saw before them Steve on the floor shielding himself while Ponyboy created a hurricane around the room.

"Ponyboy, what are you doing?!" Soda cried, trying to restrain his baby brother. Ponyboy let out a loud sob and pushed Soda away before continuing to throw things.

"It's Steve's fault! It's your fault! It's Darry's fault! It's mom and dad's fault! But most of all…it's _my_ fault!" the boy screamed.

Darry cautiously walked over to Ponyboy and picked the little boy up. He could feel Pony's burning temperature through his shirt, as well as the sweat that was pouring off the little boy's body.

"No! Stop it!" Pony squeaked, trying to kick his brother and hit him. He just wanted everybody to let him go…forever.

By now, Johnny, Dallas and Two-Bit had all heard the drama and had ran to the bedroom to see what was going on. They were all shocked at the state of the youngest Curtis.

"Come on, Pony, calm down now, you're okay," Darry assured him softly, holding the boy close to his chest.

The headache that had been pestering Pony for the past hour was finally starting to overcome him. The young boy found himself slipping into darkness, and everybody was starting to sound far away.

"That's it, baby, you just rest up now," Soda said tearfully, scared of what was happening to his little brother; was he going insane?

"Steve's right…I guess you don't need me. I guess I just cause you misery…I'm sorry," Pony croaked.

Everybody turned towards Steve, who had picked himself up off the floor. He gave them all a helpless look while they stared at him in disgust and sorrow.

"Guys, I'm so-" he started, but Darry stopped him.

"Soda, you and Pony can stay with me tonight, since your room's a mess. I'll help you clean it up in a minute," Darry told Soda, carrying a sleeping Ponyboy through to his own room.

Two-Bit and Johnny glanced at each other before picking up items off the floor and putting them back in their rightful positions. Dally disposed the items that were completely destroyed, and Soda brushed up all of the broken glass into a trash can.

Steve tried to help, but Sodapop shooed him off.

"Haven't you done enough?" Soda said bitterly, and Steve gave him a sad look. "Just go home, Steve; we can do this by ourselves,"

"Soda, I'm really sorry-"

"Soda's not the one who you should be apologizing to," Two-Bit snapped, the happy countenance that he usually had was no longer evident on his face.

Steve nodded and left, trying not to cry. He had just ruined _everything_.

Meanwhile, in Darry's room, Darry was tucking Ponyboy into bed. He had tried to remove the boy's shirt, but Ponyboy wouldn't let him take it off him, leaving Pony in his sweater and sweatpants. The man planned to get Pony's hot and clammy clothes off as soon as he fell asleep.

"Why won't you tell me what's wrong?" he asked the sleeping boy tearfully, not knowing what to do anymore. Pony was slipping away from them, and he had no idea how to bring him back.

But he wouldn't let Pony slip away forever; he was going to help his baby brother. He had to, because when Pony faded away for good…

 **AN: Hey guys! Here's your update, and I hope you like it! I'm so grateful for 202 reviews, as well as 52 favs and 73 follows! It makes me so happy, and I can't thank you all enough. Also, happy 53** **rd** **birthday to Tom Cruise – even though I've just made Steve a total ignoramus idiot in this, I still love Tom :) Wow though, he played Steve 32 years ago when he was 21! ~ Life goes quick ~**


	15. Tell me what's wrong

**I do not own The Outsiders. S.E. Hinton does :)  
Thank you to everybody who has reviewed, favorited and followed this story. I can't thank you all enough :D Also, a big thank you to Pony'sgirlfriend who gave me an idea for this chapter a few weeks back ;)**

Darry groaned and turned over, wondering why it felt so uncomfortable in the bed. Sodapop had left for work with Steve only a few minutes ago, and Darry had called off to look after Ponyboy who was still very sick.

The oldest Curtis opened his eyes, and saw that Pony was unconsciously shaking.

"Pony?" the man murmured, shaking his baby brother's shoulder gently. "Pony, wake up,"

The boy did so, but when he saw his brother staring at him he broke down into tears. Darry was startled at his baby brother's reaction.

"Baby, what's wrong?" he asked, pushing the hot covers off the two of them.

"I'm hot!" Pony sobbed, rubbing his clammy face with the back of his hand.

Darry inwardly sighed; he had forgotten to undress Pony when he and Soda had got into bed the previous night. They had both discussed Soda's issue: Mr North had come into the house and threw a picture of Pony on the floor before leaving. Darry was shocked, and the two had debated over it for most of the night, resulting in them falling into a state of exhaustion.

While Pony cried, Darry looked around for a thermometer. When he saw one next to him, he put it in Pony's mouth before the little boy could protest. It read 104, which sent Darry into a state of panic.

"Aww dammit!" he yelled, picking Pony up by his armpits and carrying him out of the room and into the bathroom. He laid Pony down on the cold tiled floor and then got up and started running a cold bath.

"Darry, what are ya doin'?" Pony slurred, trying to sit up but failing.

"I'm gonna make you better, little man, alright? I just need to get you out of these clothes," Darry stated, kneeling down in front of his little brother.

Pony mumbled something inaudible while Darry began taking off the boy's shoes and socks. As he began lifting Ponyboy's shirt, the boy suddenly realized what was about to happen.

"No! I don't want you to see!" Pony protested, trying to sit up. Darry gently pushed him back down and smiled.

"Pony, there ain't nothin' to be embarrassed of," Darry assured, not understanding why Pony didn't want Darry to take off his clothes. "Come on now, quit acting like a little baby,"

"You don't understand!" Pony cried, flailing his arms around and kicking his legs. Darry just pulled Pony against his chest and slipped the boy's shirt off quickly, and then laid him back down on the floor.

Pony was too exhausted to continue fighting, so he closed his eyes.

Darry, on the other hand, was now wide awake after seeing his little brother's stomach and chest. Hardly any of Pony's torso contained his natural skin color anymore; it was all littered with purple, yellow, brown and red shadows – as if someone had painted them on.

His stomach had scarlet belt welts on it and they looked extremely painful, and his chest had one single dark giant bruise on it. On top of that, his arms had bloody slashes going right the way down to the top of his veins on his wrists. Darry knew that the bloody slashes must have been self-inflicted, but he also knew that the rest wasn't.

The oldest Curtis gulped when he started taking off the boy's sweatpants. He really hoped that there wouldn't be any bruises or welts or scars on his baby brother's little body, but of course he was wrong.

After Darry had removed his brother's sweatpants, he couldn't ignore the fact that the bruises on his brother's legs were bigger than the ones on his torso and stomach, however they were much lighter. Darry just hoped that this meant that they weren't as painful. There was an orangey gray shadow on the boy's hip, and that one looked more painful than any of the bruises that Pony had – even the one on his chest.

Without warning, Darry found himself hurling his guts up in the sink. Pony moaned and gripped onto Darry's pant leg weakly.

"You okay?" he mumbled, clinging tighter to his big brother.

Darry wiped his mouth and glanced down at his baby brother. The boy was looking up at him, the dark circles under his eyes clearer in the white light. The question confused Darry; why was Pony asking him if he was okay? Shouldn't Pony be feeling sorry for himself?

Then Darry realized that Pony really didn't want anybody knowing about the bruises or the welts or the slashes. He really wanted to hide it from everybody.

"Aww, Pony," Darry murmured, bending down and picking up his baby brother who was only in his boxers. Pony buried his face into his brother's chest, and Darry just held him until the bathtub was filled up. "Alright, I'm gonna put you in the bath, okay?"

"I don't like baths," Pony claimed as Darry laid him back down.

"I know baby, but I promise it won't be for long," Darry reassured, undressing the boy completely.

In his delirious mind, Pony wasn't embarrassed at the fact that his brother was seeing him without any clothes on, and he wasn't even bothered that Darry had saw the damage on his body.

Darry gently lifted Pony up and set him in the tub carefully. Ponyboy winced as the cold water stung his cuts and welts, but he didn't cry.

"I know it hurts baby, but you have to be a brave big boy for me alright?" Darry said sympathetically, and Pony nodded.

He would have thrown a fit if Darry had spoken to him like this when he wasn't sick, however right at that moment Pony liked the way Darry was speaking to him; it was soothing and reassuring.

"Good boy, you're so brave," Darry praised. He grabbed a cloth and plunged it in the water and then began dabbing at his baby brother's small body. Pony hissed every now and again, but he wanted to show Darry that he was a brave big boy. Whenever he looked up at his brother, Darry smiled gently at him and then continued to wash him.

However, Darry accidentally touched a very sensitive spot while washing Pony and the little boy screamed before kicking his legs out and slamming his hands down into the cool water.

Darry's shirt got soaked, and he was about to yell until he saw Pony's lip trembling.

"You hurt me," Pony whimpered, shrinking away from his brother.

Darry felt really guilty; he needed to be gentler. Now he had just hurt his baby brother because he wasn't gentle enough. How rough was he?

"I'm sorry, little one. I didn't mean to hurt you," Darry responded honestly, and Pony wiped away his tears before slowly pulling himself over to his big brother again. Darry smiled and started washing Pony's hair, gently massaging his scalp and pouring cool water over his brother's head.

"Did I ruin your shirt? Sorry," Pony muttered, reaching a damp hand out and grabbing his brother's shirt. Darry decided to not point out that Pony was getting his shirt even wetter.

"Ah, it's okay. And don't worry, you haven't ruined it; it's just a little wet, that's all," Darry replied, lightly tugging his baby brother's hand away from his shirt. "Okay, let's get you out,"

Darry got up and went to fetch some towels while Pony stayed in the water wondering how he hadn't ruined Darry's shirt. The oldest Curtis came back and felt sick once again when he saw the bruises on his little brother, but he knew he had to be strong for Pony.

"Was I a brave big boy?" Ponyboy asked as Darry lifted him out of the tub and wrapped him in a towel. The man smiled and lifted the boy up, then kissed his head and carried his baby brother back to his room.

"Yes you were, and I'm so proud of you," he congratulated, laying Pony on the bed where more towels had been laid out. Pony gazed up at his brother while Darry dressed him in a pair of boxers and a white undershirt. Darry grinned at him, but scowled when he saw the bruises and cuts going up and down his baby brother's arm.

"Who did that to you?" Darry asked, pointing at the bruises on Pony's shoulders. Pony looked up at Darry and yawned.

"My teacher," he replied. Darry's mouth dropped open in shock.

"Which one?!" he asked, sweat starting to drip from his forehead.

"My teacher," Pony repeated, obviously not fazed by his brother's unease.

Darry wanted to throw his arms up in frustration, but knew that if he did then Pony would just get upset. However, he _did_ know that one of Pony's teachers was hurting him. But which one?

The conversation with Soda from last night was coming back to Darry, and the man felt a lump form in his throat.

" _I'm not saying that Mr North's done anythin' to Pony, but I doubt that he likes him after the way he looked at the picture of him and threw it on the floor. Maybe we should just keep Pony away from Mr North; I'm sorry to say it Dar but that family creeps me out."_

Darry had yelled at Soda after that, telling him to not judge people because of their appearance. However, maybe everything was finally starting to come together…

" _Why am I being so stupid? Mr North would never hurt Pony; he's such a nice man! He offered to tutor Pony and he's so nice to him…why would he hurt him?_ " Darry thought. However based on the events of what had happened so far, he decided that he didn't want Mr North anywhere near his baby brother. Just to be safe. But if it wasn't Mr North who was abusing Pony, who was it?

The oldest Curtis was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Pony calling him.

"Darry, I'm tired – can you lay with me?" Pony asked.

Darry looked down at his brother and nodded before giving his baby brother a reassuring smile. Pony smiled back and watched as Darry picked up the towels and put them back in the cabinet in the living room.

Pony pointed to Darry's wet shirt, and Darry got the idea that Pony didn't want him to have it one since it would probably make him cold and maybe even sicker.

The man slid his shirt over his head and put it in the laundry basket before tucking his baby brother under the covers and climbing in beside him. Pony immediately snuggled up to Darry and laid his head on his big brother's chest.

Darry rubbed his brother's back and listened to Pony's breathing. Ponyboy felt warm and snug as Darry rubbed his back and murmured soft words to him. The soft murmuring of Darry's voice eventually put Pony to sleep, and he felt like such a brave boy and he was glad that Darry was happy with him.

Soon after Pony fell asleep, Darry fell asleep too. He had his arms around his baby brother's small body, and he just hoped that when they woke up he would be able to find out who had been hurting his baby brother. But did he already know? The thought haunted him.

Ten hours later Sodapop walked into the house with Two-Bit following him. He had only worked for seven hours; however he and Two-Bit decided to walk around town for a little bit since he still wasn't talking to Steve. He wasn't grounded since Darry had already given him corner-time for twenty minutes, but he knew he wasn't going to do anything so stupid again.

"Hey Dar," Soda greeted before he had fully made his way into the house.

"Hey," Darry said. Soda smiled, but was shocked when he saw Darry.

The man was sitting on his recliner, as always, but he had a sleeping Pony in his lap. He was rocking back and forth in his chair while Pony just buried his face deeper into his brother's chest.

"Wow, he looks really sick," Two-Bit commented.

"Yeah, he does. Anybody know what these are from?" Darry asked, pointing to Pony's arms and legs.

Sodapop gasped and ran over to his little brother, though he was careful to not wake him up.

"Oh God," he whispered, pain evident in his voice.

Two-Bit's jaw dropped open and the hood gazed at the welts and bruises that covered the little boy's body.

"He said it was one of his teacher's, but he didn't say which one. I don't want Mr North near him anymore; you're right, that guy does seem strange," Darry said, and Soda clicked his fingers.

"Then it's gotta be Mr North. Think about it, he's a _teacher_ , and he obviously hates Pony, so we've got our evidence!" Soda exclaimed jumping up.

"Now hang on a second, Pepsi-Cola. We don't know that for sure. We'll just have to keep a close eye on Norman and make sure that Pony stays far away from him,"

"Does that mean that Jemi won't be coming over anymore?" Soda questioned.

Darry bit his lip. He hadn't thought about that. But then images of Pony's bruised body came flashing through his mind and he immediately shook his head.

"I'll tell her to not come around as often. How about we see how Pony acts around her?" Darry suggested and Soda nodded.

"Yeah okay," Soda agreed, and he went to his room to get dressed. Even though their room had been fixed, Soda still wanted to stay in his older brother's bedroom; it meant that they were all together.

Meanwhile, in the living room, Darry continued to rock his baby brother on his lap. He kissed him and rubbed his back, and then slowly laid his brother on his stomach.

"You're my brave little man, aren't you?" he smiled, rubbing Pony's back again.

"M' not little," Pony replied.

" _You'll always be little to me. Please tell me who's hurting you, baby. I promise I won't be mad,_ " Darry silently said to Pony, and he let a single tear fall out of his icy blue eyes and onto Pony's scarlet cheek.

 **AN: Hope that chapter was okay for all of you. And again, thanks to Pony'sgirlfriend for giving me the idea of Pony getting sick and bathed by one of his brother's. Seems as if Darry and Soda are onto Mr North now…suspense! Also, thank you again to everybody has favorited, reviewed and followed this story. I can't thank you all enough! :D :D**


	16. I'm Home

**I do not own The Outsiders. S.E. Hinton does :)**

When Pony woke up his mind was hazy and he felt awfully groggy. He couldn't recall any memories of what had happened that day, just that he felt really sick. He remembered Darry tucking him into bed the evening before, and the words that Steve had said to him came flooding back.

However, when the boy looked around, he noticed that he wasn't in Darry's bedroom, or his and Soda's. He was in the living room with Soda and Two-Bit who were fast asleep. He wondered where Darry was, however when he turned his head, he saw that he was sitting on Darry's knee.

"Huh?" Pony whispered, scanning over Darry who was asleep also.

He had no idea how he got there, and was very confused; had he been sleepwalking? The boy also felt very refreshed, and when he looked down he saw that he was only in his boxers and undershirt.

Pony gasped when he saw his bruised and welted arms; had everybody seen them? Somebody must have had to have gotten him dressed also; he hadn't been wearing these clothes before? Who had seen his body?!

The boy slowly slid off his brother's lap, but didn't get more than a few inches away before Darry pulled him back.

"Where ya goin', baby boy?" he asked tiredly, rubbing his eyes.

Pony scowled at the nickname which was strange; he was always jealous of Soda for getting the affectionate nicknames, but some of the nicknames that Darry were calling him now were too babyish for Pony's liking.

"The bathroom," he lied, pulling out of Darry's grip. Instead of going to the bathroom, he went to his and Soda's bedroom and bundled himself up in the sheets.

They must have known that something was going on. They must have known that he was too weak to defend himself. They must have been so disappointed in him. And he deserved their anger and hatred; he was nothing but a burden.

Ponyboy cried in his bed for a long time. The more he cried, the more he forgot about all the happy times, and the more he remembered the bad ones. Was this his life now? Was he just going to be sad all day, and fear going to school? Was he just going to make his brothers sad by living in their presence? Did he even need to live anymore?

The sleeping pills that he had attempted to take a few days before flashed in his mind. He needed something stronger…something that would make him feel lighter…something better.

"Pony, are you okay in there?" Darry called from the hall. Pony just got up and swallowed before sliding his window open, letting in a cool breeze. The young boy was glad that there was a lock on his and Soda's bedroom door; now nobody could stop him from escaping.

He carefully boosted himself up onto the ledge, and then pushed himself out. There was only a small drop from his window to the ground, so he landed perfectly on both his feet.

"Pony," Darry called again, his voice slightly panicky. The knocks got louder and faster, but Pony couldn't hear them; he was gone.

The youngest Curtis ran down his street and didn't stop running until he was at least eight minutes away from his house. He relaxed and stared up at the moon, letting the beams radiate his face.

The full moon looked so magical, but it was still nothing compared to a sunset in Pony's mind. The moon was only a hard white light, while the sunset emitted all different colors: gold, red, purple, orange and some colors that Pony couldn't even name. He wondered in his head if the sunset looked as beautiful from the clouds.

"Pony, I'm worried. Please open the door," Darry begged. "Please!"

His cry woke up Sodapop and Two-Bit, who got up at once to see why Darry was shouting. Darry looked at them and sighed.

"He won't open the door," Darry explained, pressing his forehead against the hard wood.

"There's a spare key on top of the door frame somewhere," Soda chimed, and Darry's head snapped up.

 **XXX**

Tim had kicked Curly out, so the young Shepard boy was currently stalking though the streets. He was angry at everybody, and he blamed the whole world.

He had barely done anything wrong. All's he had done was have a sip of Tim's beer, and Tim exploded! But Tim seemed to have had a problem with Curly as soon as he had come home; he had been nice to Angela who kept asking him stuff and talking to him, yet as soon as Curly opened his mouth Tim told him to shut up!

The boy tried to tell himself that he didn't care, but no matter how hard he tried to he just felt extremely frustrated and upset. Why did Angela get away with being horrible to Tim, yet he was still lovely to her? Curly was loyal to his big brother, yet Tim just didn't seem to care. He cared about everybody except for Curly, and that was just the harsh reality of it.

Ponyboy didn't do anything to deserve Tim's comfort or affection. He had two other brothers who were comforting and affectionate towards him, weren't they enough? This anger Curly, and when he saw Ponyboy strolling down the road, he couldn't seem to help himself.

"Hey!" he shouted, and Pony looked up with a shocked expression.

"Oh, hey Curly," Pony greeted nervously, wrapping his blue blanket tighter around him.

"Don't you dare 'Hey Curly' me," Curly warned, towering over the little boy.

Ponyboy was scared; Curly was his friend and he never acted like this.

"What's wrong?" Pony questioned innocently, shivering slightly from the cold weather as well as his fear.

"Stay away from Tim, ya hear me?" Curly snarled, putting his face closer to the younger boy's.

Pony carefully backed away, not sure what Curly's sudden problem was. Why was he acting like this?

"What's your problem?" he hissed, suddenly angry.

A sudden anger fell over Curly, and he found himself harshly shoving Pony to the ground. Pony winced, but luckily his thick blanket protected him from any damage.

"I mean it, Ponyboy: if you come near Tim again, I will end you," the teen threatened. "What do you have that I don't, huh? What makes Ponyboy Curtis _so_ special?"

"Oh Curly, you don't understand!" Pony shouted, irritated. That was the problem with Curly Shepard: he never understood anything, at least that's what everyone thought.

"Well you're not the only one who gets hurt by someone who you're supposed to trust!" Curly cried before bolting down the street, away from Ponyboy, away from the light. He was back in the shadows, as always. He'd just be a shadow, Tim's shadow, and he'd eventually leave when Tim did. That's just how it worked.

Pony shivered again and picked himself up off the ground. He wished that he had put some clothes on, but now he was just stuck with his blanket and underwear. His brothers were probably worried now, so he decided to head home.

On the way there however, he came across a familiar face. What was Mr North doing out at almost 11 pm?

"Glad I could see you again, Ponyboy," the teacher grinned, taking a puff of his cigar.

The young boy whimpered and his eyes widened. The teacher took his cigar out of his mouth and held it right next to Pony's eye.

"Do you know what it feels like to get burnt?"

Steve Randle, who was walking back to his house after dropping Evie off, heard a scream in the distance. He ran to where the scream came from, and slowly stopped walking and crept over to the road.

On the other side of the road, he saw Ponyboy and Norman North facing each other. Norman was pressing his cigar into Ponyboy's neck, and Ponyboy was struggling to get away.

Steve gasped but continued to watch; he needed more information.

"I don't know how long it's going to take before you finally realize that you don't belong on this earth, but trust me Ponyboy, I will never stop disciplining you until you learn your lesson," Norman laughed, smacking Pony in the face.

Pony fell to the ground and curled up in a ball. His blanket rolled off his body, leaving him almost exposed.

"Interesting," Mr North said, removing his belt. "You've showed someone, haven't you?" And with that, he started making welts on the poor boy's legs.

The youngest Curtis screamed for help, and Steve just watched with pained eyes. So this was why Pony was acting the way he was? He was really getting abused…but by a teacher? Steve felt awful.

The moonlight illuminated the bright red marks on Pony's small body. Some were even bleeding, and some of the scars that Pony had done himself had been reopened due to the sharp leather.

Steve couldn't take anymore, but he didn't know who to run to. What if Pony got mad at him for telling Darry and Soda? He knew that he should have told them anyway despite Pony's protests, but he followed his mind instead of his heart, and it was the sorriest thing he had ever done.

The man closed his eyes and then began walking back to his home. He'd confront Pony tomorrow, but right now he would just try and forget all that had happened. It wasn't his problem was it? But the more he thought about it, the guiltier he felt. The guilt made him want to throw up, but it wasn't his problem. Steve wished he could believe himself, but he didn't.

 **XXX**

After Mr North was done, Pony just lay in the street. He pulled his blanket over his cold and bruised body and just stared up at the sky.

"Mom, dad, why won't you help me?" he asked, his voice slightly wobbly. "What did I do to deserve this?"

A breeze fell on his face, making his auburn hair fly over his eyes.

"Are you mad at me?" he questioned.

He couldn't help but look to the stars for some sort of reassurance. They seemed to have it easy up there; unlike down on earth where nobody could get along.

Time slowly passed before Pony felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. He didn't turn to see who it was.

"It's time to go home, sweetie," a female voice said. Pony gasped.

"Mom?!" he shouted, turning around instantly. But nobody was there; it was just the gloomy street where he had been beaten by Mr North. Then the boy felt a bigger hand touch his other shoulder.

"Darry and Soda are worried about ya, pal. Be a good boy and don't worry 'em no more," a deeper, male voice said.

"Dad?" Pony whimpered, turning around once more. Again, he was greeted with nothing, but this time it felt different. It was as if they had actually been there with him.

Picking up his thick blanket and wrapping it tight around his little fragile body, Pony started walking home. He made sure to not let his bare feet touch anything, but it didn't even feel as if he was on the ground anymore. He was floating, and it felt good.

 **XXX**

"He's been gone for over an hour, Sodapop. I think I should go out now," Darry said, standing up.

Darry had been saying that for the past hour, but Soda had tried to convince him to not leave and that Pony probably needed some time to himself.

However, the middle brother did feel slightly worried about his baby brother, so he decided to let Darry go.

The tension faded when there was a knock at the door.

Darry swallowed and then walked over to the door and opened it, revealing a bundled up Pony.

The oldest Curtis felt tears come to his eyes, but he blinked them back and gave Pony a watery smile before pulling the boy to his chest.

"Aww Pony!" he cried, kissing the boy's head.

Soda grinned and wrapped his arms around Pony aswell, and then soon an extra pair of arms was wrapped around the three. Two-Bit just gave all the brothers a smirk and squeezed them all tighter.

"Yeah guys, I'm home," Pony breathed, and although nobody else felt it, Pony felt two more people wrap their arms around the boys. The feeling eventually faded, but Pony had felt them.

He was glad they knew that he was home.

 **AN: So, Steve's found out? Wonder what's gonna happen?! This chapter made me feel upset – I felt so sorry for poor Pony :( Please tell me what you thought of the chapter, and thank you to everybody who has favorited, followed and reviewed this story; I can't thank you all enough :D**


	17. The guilt of knowing

**I do not own The Outsiders. S.E. Hinton does :)**

As the days passed, Pony got better. His body returned to its normal temperature, and he no longer felt hot when he was really cold or cold when he was really hot. He was well enough to go back to school; the doctors had said so. He might have looked okay physically, but emotionally, he was still scarred.

Darry and Soda didn't know about Ponyboy's encounter with Curly Shepard; he knew that if he told them they would probably go down to the teenager's house and knock some sense into Curly. Curly already looked upset – he didn't need Pony adding more pain to his already awful life.

Steve still didn't visit the Curtis house; he knew it would be wise not to; none of the gang were happy with him, including Soda. Besides, since Steve had been the one to witness Pony getting beaten and burnt by Mr North, the sixteen-year-old feared that he might have let it slip that Mr North had hurt Pony. He didn't know why he feared that certain slip of the tongue; surely if Darry and Soda knew what was going on, everything would be sorted out and Pony would be okay again, right?

Well, it wasn't Pony's safety that he was concerned about; it was Pony's happiness – Pony's stability. If Steve told everybody what had happened with Mr North, Pony could get angry, or even worse: sad. It was Pony's choice to decide whether he wanted to let people know that he was being abused – it had nothing to do with Steve. Steve had it embedded in his head that if Pony wanted to be oppressed and not tell anybody about what was happening to him, Steve would let him.

Besides, he had only seen it happen once. Perhaps it was just a one-time thing; the teacher could have been drunk, or Pony could have assaulted him first. Ponyboy Curtis…a thirteen-year-old boy who was small, thin and still had some childish features on his adorable face. The boy who could never harm a fly if it bothered him; the only time he would ever kill that fly was if it bothered Johnny Cade, and even then he would feel bad for that fly.

There was no way that Pony could have provoked that teacher; Steve knew that. He just didn't want to believe it. He didn't want to accept what was happening to his best friend's baby brother. No, not his best friend's baby brother; he didn't want to accept what was happening to _Ponyboy Curtis_.

Steve wiped his mouth before making his way to second period. Mr North was taking his class, but as far as Steve was concerned, the incident of what had happened four days before never actually happened. He was probably just seeing things; his mind had been playing tricks on him lately.

 **XXX**

Ponyboy stared at the bowl of cereal in front of him. He had told Darry that he didn't want anything to eat, but Darry refused to let him leave the house until he ate something.

Soda, being Soda, had put red food coloring in the milk. This would usually make Pony wolf down his meal in a few minutes, but right now it looked rather unappetizing. _Red was the color of blood_.

"Pony, if you don't eat your cereal now then it'll go all sickly. Plus, you'll be late for school," Darry called. He was getting his tool belt on while Soda was in the shower, or getting dressed. It was hard to tell with Sodapop; he was in the living room one second and outside the next.

Darry was right; the cereal had turned rather sickly looking. All of the grains had floated to the bottom of the bowl, and the red milk had turned into an unattractive pink fluid. If Pony ate it, he'd probably throw it up again anyway.

Seeing as Darry and Soda were nowhere in sight, Pony stood up and took his bowl to the trashcan. Scanning around the room once more, Pony emptied the contents of his bowl into the can, making sure to scrape of the pink grains of cereal that were stuck to the bowl.

Hearing Darry's footsteps (he could always tell whose footsteps they were: Darry's footsteps were loud and aggressive sounding since he wore boots while Soda's were loud and fast, due to the fact that he basically ran everywhere) the young boy quickly ran back to the table and set his empty bowl down in front of him.

When Darry walked into the kitchen and stood next to Pony, he was impressed. But, seeing as all of the milk was gone, Darry felt unease creep up on him.

"You drank _all_ of that milk?" he asked, clearly shocked. The milk was the one thing that Darry knew he would have left out if he had been forced to eat the cereal himself.

"Yep, and it was great," Pony declared triumphantly. Darry cocked an eyebrow which made Pony shrink away. He didn't know why, but whenever somebody raised just one eyebrow to him, it intimidated him a lot.

The oldest Curtis noticed Pony's uneasiness and sighed before picking up the empty porcelain bowl. Pony had literally eaten everything, including the sugar at the bottom of the bowl that he never ate. Soda always put sugar in everybody's cereal; he claimed that it added flavor. Pony hated it and always made sure that he never ate the sugar that Soda had added, but now he didn't seem at all bothered.

"Well, gotta go," Pony exclaimed, and then got up and grabbed his backpack before banging on the bathroom door. A scream was heard from Soda whom was currently greasing his hair, and Pony chuckled to himself before leaving.

Curiosity getting the best of the oldest greaser, Darry quickly opened the trashcan, only to find that all of Pony's breakfast was dripping through the garbage. The man sighed, running a hand through his hair. He'd have to have a word with Pony when he got home.

Meanwhile, Pony walked to school with confidence. He hadn't seen Mr North in four days now, so the man mustn't have been bothered with him anymore, right? Wrong.

Nobody spoke to Pony when he arrived at the school. His teachers barely acknowledged him and the students acted as if he wasn't there. Johnny was at home since his father had broken his nose while Two-Bit had decided to skip school, so the boy literally had nobody.

Steve was sitting at one table with Bryon Douglas and few other greaser boys while Curly sat at another table with Mark Jennings and some skinny, rowdy, clown-looking girls. It was out of the question to sit with Steve, and Pony was slightly afraid of Curly now, so the young greaser went and sat by himself.

He tensed when he felt a large hand come down on his shoulder. When he looked up, Norman North was staring down at him.

"I haven't seen you in four days, Ponyboy. You've missed a lot of tuition," the man stated angrily. Pony gulped in response.

 **XXX**

Steve groaned, tapping his fingers on the desk in front of him impatiently. He had been sentenced to fifteen minutes of afterschool detention after shouting and cussing at his teacher, since his teacher had called him a hood when she thought he couldn't hear him. The teenager didn't think that it was himself who should be getting punished, but then again the teachers didn't really care about what the students thought, more specifically the greasers.

Mr Benjamin was asleep at his desk at the front, and Steve had only turned up at the detention because he knew that Mr Benjamin wouldn't yell and reprimand him, unlike the other teachers at his school. He also kept to his word; if the detention was fifteen minutes long, then he'd make sure that it was fifteen minutes long; no more, no less. The latter sucked, but Steve remembered all of the other times that unfair teachers had kept him in detention longer than what he should have been, and therefore felt grateful.

A bell rang after the fifteen minutes were up, and Steve knew that he was allowed to just exit the classroom. Mr Benjamin woke up and bid the teenager farewell, and Steve returned the farewell.

He was just about to leave, when he heard a low cry from down the hallway. Peering around suspiciously, Steve slowly crept down the hallway, making sure not to alert anybody.

As he got closer to Mr North's classroom, the cries became louder, followed by a series of slamming sounds, and an aggressive voice. Since the window on the door wasn't covered, Steve stood to the side of the door and cautiously squinted through the glass.

There was Ponyboy on the floor, and above him was Mr North. The man was kicking the boy repeatedly, and Ponyboy just winced while taking the beating. Steve covered his mouth but continued to watch, as if he was in the movie theater watching a horror feature.

One thing that made Steve wince himself was when Mr North delivered a harsh kick to Ponyboy's groin. The boy screamed loudly, but quickly shut up when Mr North threatened him with something that looked like a rag.

So, what Steve had witnessed the other day really had happened, and now it was happening again. Sodapop and Darry were right: Ponyboy was being abused, and it needed to be stopped. But it was Steve who knew the truth, and now that he knew it he wasn't sure if he was happy or not.

The teenager bit down on his hand, causing blood to leak from his between his teeth. He bit down again, letting the tears fall out of his eyes. It wasn't fair: it wasn't fair that Ponyboy was being abused by his teacher, it wasn't fair that Steve was the one who had to find out first, it wasn't fair that he had been so horrible to Pony, it wasn't fair that Darry was dating Pony's abuser's daughter, and it wasn't fair that it had happened to them. Greasers really couldn't catch a break; just when they thought one problem was solved another was forced upon them. But then Steve realized that Pony wasn't just a greaser, he was a human being; everybody had to go through dilemmas, sometimes even ones as cruel as this. And it was _unfair_.

Suddenly, Mr North stopped hitting Pony, and looked right out of the window which Steve was looking in. Steve squeaked, and then noticed yellow fluid leaking out of the bottom of his jeans. He was authentically afraid of Mr North, and if this was how he felt by just seeing Mr North look at him, he could only imagine how much Ponyboy feared the teacher.

The greaser didn't hesitate in running down the hallway, towards the school exit. When he ran out, he noticed Evie standing in the parking lot, waiting for him. Soda and Sandy were there too, and he assumed from Soda's frustrated expression that he was only there because of his girlfriend, not because he wanted to see Steve.

"Hey honey, how was your day?" Evie asked. Steve just stormed right past her, completely ignoring her. Evie, Soda and Sandy all gave each other a look, and then directed it back to Steve.

The boy gave out a sob, and then was sick all over the floor. Pony couldn't be getting hurt by Mr North…he was too nice. The glare that the teacher had given him a few minutes ago however, made Steve throw up once again.

Tensing at the sound of footsteps, Steve got up and ran. He didn't know where he was running to; his mind was hazy. The only thing on his mind at that moment was Ponyboy and Mr North, and the incident that had happened in the classroom.

He didn't want to live with this anymore. He had been so horrible to Ponyboy, telling him to stop wasting his brother's lives, while the poor boy had been through enough pain already. It was Steve who had wasted everybody's lives, he was sure of it. Pony didn't deserve any of what he got, and Steve had made it worse.

The curly-haired teenaged greaser soon found himself in front of a river. He didn't know why he was there, but then saw it as a sign. If he died then that was one thing off Pony's chest right?

Steve didn't even have a chance to think before he felt himself being pulled to the ground. He tried to get up, but his stomach lurched and he vomited again. The person who had pulled him to the ground gently pushed Steve off him and began stroking his hair as the juvenile continued to gag.

"Easy buddy, I got you now," a soft voice said. It was Soda's, Steve was sure of it.

He wanted to answer Soda, but he felt too upset to even attempt to speak.

"Shh, don't speak," Soda ordered gently. Steve started sobbing; why should he be getting attention while Ponyboy was getting beaten? He didn't deserve Sodapop's comfort.

The adolescent endeavoured to get up, only to be pulled down by his best friend once again.

"Soda, let go," Steve cried weakly, but Soda shushed him.

"Come on buddy, let's get you back to my house," he soothed, holding onto Steve's arm. Steve just cried into his best friend's shoulder while Sodapop rubbed his back. He wanted to tell Soda about what he had seen, but felt that if he did then he would throw up again; the visions were too clear in his hazy mind, and each time he remembered them they seemed to get worse each time.

Steve bawled the whole way back to the Curtis's house. Evie and Sandy had left to their houses while Sodapop had chased after Steve when he began running away. The middle Curtis didn't know what was up with his best buddy, but it worried him terribly.

By the time they reached Soda's house, Steve had been sick all over his jeans and shoes. Soda sighed and led Steve to Pony's old room, which made Steve bawl louder. Knowing that it would be awkward for Soda to change his sick friend, he instead decided to just scrub Steve's jeans with a rag. It wasn't the best method, but it stopped him from getting vomit in the bedsheets. As for the shoes Soda just pulled them off and tossed them in the bathroom.

"Hmm, wonder where Pony is," Soda thought aloud.

Steve gasped and began wailing like a baby, not caring that Soda was shocked.

"Hey, hey, it's okay, he'll be fine," Soda reassured, but Steve continued to cry. "Steve, please be quiet," the teenager begged. He was beginning to get slightly annoyed with Steve's constant crying.

Sensing that Steve was going to throw up again if he carried on crying, Soda felt like he had no other choice. The teenager brought the palm of his hand down hard across Steve's face, and Steve was knocked stunned for a second, staring up at his best friend with wide eyes.

"Please stop," Soda pleaded. Steve didn't answer and just carried on staring at his best friend. "It'll be okay now, Stevie. Just please stop crying now; I promise everything's gonna be fine," he assured.

Steve blinked and then nodded, rubbing his cheek where Soda had struck him. He felt bad for pushing his best friend like that, though he felt even worse knowing that's probably how he had made Pony feel all those weeks.

Soda tucked his sick best friend under the covers, cringing at the color of his cheek. He really wished that he hadn't have hit him, but with the way Steve was carrying on it had just frightened him terribly.

Just as Soda was about to walk out the door, Steve called him.

"Soda?"

"Yeah Steve?" Sodapop called back.

"I need to tell you something," Steve announced.

Sodapop frowned, but then smiled at Steve who looked as if he were about to fall asleep any minute now.

"Tell me later, okay buddy?" he offered, and Steve nodded.

Once the light was turned off, Steve snuggled down into the covers. He was going to tell Sodapop and Darry soon…he was going to tell them _something_ important. But now he couldn't even remember what he was going to tell them.

 **AN: I am so sorry for not updating for so long! I think this is my longest chapter yet, so I hope you enjoyed it! Thank you to everybody who has favorited, followed and reviewed this story. I can't thank you all enough :D**


	18. A secret shared

**I do not own The Outsiders. S.E. Hinton does :)**

"Why is he here?" Darry whispered to Soda, who was sitting on the sofa. When the teenager looked up, he realized that Darry wasn't happy one bit with the fact that Steve Randle, the juvenile who had caused Ponyboy to break down, was sleeping in the latter's former bedroom.

Sodapop sighed, switching off the television. He knew he'd have to face his older brother because: Darry hated it when people didn't look at him when he was speaking or was being spoken to, and it was hard to get Darry to understand anything -plain or simple- without looking at him.

"Steve was sick before. He was freaking out, and I couldn't have just left him," Soda explained, gazing into Darry's icy orbs. The man sighed; he knew Soda had won the 'argument' before it had even started since Darry knew that he would have done the same as his brother anyway, and also: they all would have had to forgive Steve eventually; the gang wouldn't be the same without him.

The brothers were so caught up in discussing Steve; they didn't even hear the front door open and close. They were startled when Two-Bit Mathews and Dallas Winston appeared in front of them, as if they had been conjured by magic.

"Don't do that again," Darry warned, grabbing Two-Bit around the neck; ruffling his rusty colored hair. Dallas dodged Sodapop's arm and jumped on the sofa before the latter could ruin his greased blond hair.

By the time Darry had let Two-Bit go, the younger male's hair was sticking up as if he had just been struck by lightning. Everybody laughed at the young adult's attempt to comb his hair back into place with his fingers; of course he had failed miserably.

The four men proceeded to act foolishly (Darry tried not to submit to the childish behavior, but after hearing Two-Bit's laugh for so long, he felt himself acting just like the rest of his fellow gang members), until a low groan was heard from Ponyboy's old room.

Sodapop immediately stood up, thinking that Steve was having a nightmare or was in pain, while Dallas and Two-Bit stared at Darry with confused frowns on their countenances.

"Soda brought Steve home from before. Said he was sick or somethin'. And he was freaking out," Darry said, watching as Two-Bit's jaw dropped and Dally's shoulders tensed.

"Damn," Dally muttered, swiping his hand across his mouth.

Two-Bit didn't say anything; he just stared at the room where Soda had left to. As much as Two-Bit hated to admit it, he felt a strong protectiveness towards Steve. The youth didn't know why, but the true reason was mainly because Steve was usually singled out from the younger members of the gang.

The two youngest: Ponyboy and Johnny were protected by all of the gang due to basic inclinations: Pony was _everybody's_ little brother and Johnny was _everybody's_ pet. And then there was Sodapop, who was protected by all of the gang aswell; he was Darry's little brother, and Darry made sure that both of his little brothers were well protected.

But what about Steve? He was the same age as Soda, yet if Two-Bit were to ask all of the gang to be honest, they'd say that Sodapop was protected more than Steve. It made Two-Bit have an urge to look out for the younger black haired greaser; if he didn't then who would?

It was different with Darry, Dally and Two-Bit. They were more mature (well, 'older'; Two-Bit and mature cannot really be used in the same sentence) than the rest of the gang; they had seen more than what the younger ones had. Johnny did get beaten at home, that was a fact, and it was probable that Steve and Sodapop couldn't be classed as 'virgins' anymore, but they didn't have that older vibe about them. Two-Bit didn't really have that vibe either, but he was responsible when he wanted to be; that was something that Soda, Steve, Johnny and Ponyboy couldn't be, even if they tried to.

Sure, he had Sodapop, who was his best friend, but in Two-Bit's opinion: he needed somebody older looking out for him too. All of the gang backed each other up; they'd let them stay at each other's houses and bandage each other up after a fight or rumble, and they'd give each other car rides to school, The Dingo and basically anywhere; that's what buddies did for each other in their neighborhood.

Steve was included in all of these things, but what about when he needed a shoulder to cry on or a person to comfort him after he'd been thrown out by his old man? Sure, when he walked through the door of the Curtis house, he'd be told that he was welcome to stay, but that was about it - they wouldn't even ask if he was okay; they'd just go and get the first aid kit and help him clean his wounds.

After Sodapop returned to the living room, he informed the gang that Steve was having a nightmare, presumably about one of his teachers, though Soda had woken him up before he had said the teacher's name. Two-Bit slipped into the room after Soda; he wanted to talk to him.

While Two-Bit went in to talk to Steve, Darry glanced at the clock as Sodapop and Dallas engaged in a conversation about girls. The brunet remembered that he had to talk to Ponyboy about the breakfast incident that had happened previously that day; however he hadn't seen his youngest brother since the auburn-haired child had left the house that morning.

"Hey Soda, was Pony in when you got home?" Darry asked his brother, trying to clear the fear that was creeping up in his voice.

Sodapop, who was no longer interested in the conversation about girls since Dally had said something extremely offensive, turned to his older brother. Without the boy even speaking, Darry knew what the answer was.

"It's almost six-thirty," the man swallowed, paling slightly. Ponyboy was never home this late; the only time that had happened was when Pony was on an all-day field trip, and from what Darry knew, Pony's next field trip wasn't for a while.

The middle-Curtis brother, sensing his brother's unease, placed a hand on the older man's strong shoulder.

"Relax Darry, he's probably gone to the library, or he might even be at a friend's house," the teenager assured. Darry didn't look convinced, but he forced himself to calm down; there was no point in getting into a panic when nothing bad had happened yet.

Meanwhile in Ponyboy's old bedroom, Steve lay asleep while Two-Bit stroked his friend's hair. The sleeping boy didn't look sixteen; to Two-bit he looked around fourteen years old, or even a little younger. If this was what Steve looked like in his sleep, the rusty haired greaser could only imagine what Ponyboy looked like when he slept.

It made Two-Bit sad though; even as a fourteen year old, Steve was still exposed to the horrors of the real world. The latter's father was to blame of course, but blaming somebody didn't help the fact that the young boy would never have been able to be treated like a proper child. Still, it didn't mean that Steve had grown up either; he was still just a kid – some people just seemed to forget that he was.

The boy started mumbling in his sleep again, so Two-Bit gently shook his friend's shoulder; waking the juvenile up. Steve's face and body were clammy, and his eyes were bloodshot. His greased back black hair was soaking in sweat, so Two-Bit pulled the covers off his friend's warm body.

"Hey buddy, how are ya?" the older male asked his friend, pushing back the boy's hair.

Steve merely stared up at the man and the shrugged; he didn't really know what he was feeling because he was hot and very confused. Why was in a bed?

"Where am I?" the curly haired youth croaked, staring up at the older teenager.

Two-Bit sighed. Clearly, Steve didn't remember any of the previous events of what had happened that day; he was so sick and delirious that he probably didn't even waking up.

"Well, you're in Ponyboy's old room; you were sick before and-" Two-Bit attempted to explain, but didn't get very far as he was interrupted by Steve.

"Ponyboy!" Steve shouted, trying to jump out of the bed, but Two-Bit held the latter down.

"Soon," Two-Bit admonished, positioning the sixteen-year-old so he was in his former posture.

Steve, in his feverish state, felt rather intimidated by his friend's voice. Two-Bit sounded like a father reprimanding a child, and that was exactly what Steve felt like: a child.

The adolescent tried once again to stand up, but was scolded by Two-Bit. The boy huffed, but when he shivered Two-Bit went back to gentle and caring; picking up the covers which he had pulled off the bed and tucking them around Steve's body.

Steve still kept his arms crossed and stared up at Two-Bit like a youngster who had been told that he wasn't allowed to get the toy that he wanted. The seventeen-year-old giggled at his companion; sure Steve was sick, but he was acting really childish; something that the black haired greaser usually complained about Ponyboy being.

Speaking of Ponyboy, Two-Bit felt curious. Why had Steve been so eager to get up and try to find Ponyboy as soon as his name was mentioned? He wasn't bothered about him before the little boy's name was mentioned, but as soon as it was Steve looked as if he was about to fly through the wall.

"Say Steve, why did you seem so worried about Ponyboy?" Two-Bit asked innocently, looking his friend in the eyes.

Steve sighed; he'd have to tell somebody eventually. As much as he hated doing it, he couldn't be the only one who knew about this; he'd probably have a heart attack from the guilt.

"W-well," he stuttered, "When I was walkin' down the hallway after school had ended, I was about to leave until I heard somebody shouting. I wanted to take a look since I had nothin' better to do, but…"

The boy swallowed and Two-Bit knew that if he didn't urge Steve to go on, the boy would probably never tell him the story. The young adult coughed, signalling Steve to continue.

"So, I went to the place where I heard the shouting coming from. When I got there, I heard stuff bein' thrown round in the classroom, like kids were fightin'. I looked through the window, and there was Ponyboy and Mr North-"

"Mr North as in Darry's girlfriend's dad?" Two-bit questioned, clearly shocked.

"Yeah. Mr North, he was…he was hittin' Pony, shouting stuff at him, throwing anythin' he could at him. Pony was cryin' and beggin' him to stop, but Mr North had a look in his eyes. He looked as if he wanted to murder Pony, and I wanted…" the boy breathed out heavily, looking as if he was about to start crying any minute.

"What Steve?" Two-Bit gasped, shaking his sick friend. "Why didn't you help him?!"

"I wanted to help him, but Mr North saw me, and I got real scared Two-Bit! I didn't want him to hurt me, and I didn't want him hurtin' Pony either! The guilt's been eating at me all day, and I didn't know who to tell!" Steve responded tearfully, and then he broke down sobbing.

Two-Bit was needless to say: shocked. So, that was why Pony had been withdrawing from everybody lately? That was why Pony always winced whenever anybody touched him or tickled him?

"Did he…do anything else?" Two-Bit asked fearfully. He didn't want to ask the question, but it needed to be done.

Steve's mouth dropped open in shock, and he grasped his friend by the shoulders.

"Oh God, what if he has?!" Steve shouted, and began wailing.

The crying attracted the attention of the other gang members, who came running through the door.

"What did you say, Two-Bit?" Dally questioned, scratching the back of his neck.

"Well…" Two-Bit started, only to be cut off by Steve squeezing shoulders. He realized that the boy didn't want the others knowing yet, so he decided to keep quiet about it for the present moment.

The male didn't have time to respond before Steve was sick all over the bedsheets. This made the minor cry more, which resulted in him vomiting again.

The men in the room were shocked. They didn't do anything, until Darry decided it was time to help Steve. He went and got a bowl for Steve, which the latter continued to throw up in. Sodapop rubbed his friend's back while Two-Bit spoke soothingly to him and Dally just watched.

"I gotta go out to find Pony," Darry announced after Steve had finished his episode of vomiting. The former stood up and ran to the front door and opened it sharply, but was greeted by a startling sight.

Jemi North was standing in front of him, and she looked as if she had been crying.

"Your brother…he's in the hospital. He's been beaten up real bad," she told the man, shaking her head as if she couldn't believe what had happened.

Darry's eyes widened, and without a second glance at the brunette, he ran back to the room where all of the houseguests were located.

"Everybody, get ready; we're going to the hospital. Pony's been jumped," he ordered.

If only he knew the truth.

 **AN: Uh-oh; Pony's in the hospital?! I hated the ending to this chapter, but hopefully Pony will be okay! And now Two-Bit knows! I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, and thank you to everybody who has favorited, followed and reviewed this story. I can't thank you all enough :D**


	19. Ponyboy's tears

**I do not own The Outsiders. S.E. Hinton does :)**

The gang reached the hospital quickly, considering that Darry had basically sped the whole way there. They all, including Jemi, managed to fit in Darry's truck; sure it was uncomfortable, especially for Steve who's fever was getting higher, but they were all too worried about Ponyboy to even contemplate that they were uncomfortable.

A black-haired nurse with blue eyes and shining white teeth told the group that only three people were allowed to see Ponyboy since the rooms were very small. Dallas had seen the girl at Buck's: he could tell it was her because of her picky attitude as well as the snarl that never left her aggressive-looking face.

It was already known among the group that Sodapop and Darry would be going to visit Ponyboy; they were his brothers after all. They went ahead, and the black-haired nurse stood there tapping her foot, motioning for the rest to make a decision.

"Well, Johnny's not here, so who should it be?" Two-Bit asked Dallas and Steve, not bothering to include Jemi in the discussion.

"Maybe we should take turns; then we can all see him," Steve suggested, and the other gang members nodded.

"Why can't I go in? I was the one who saw him," Jemi stated, clearly annoyed.

Steve turned to glare at the girl, and Two-Bit growled at her. The girl took a step back uneasily, clamping her mouth shut.

"I'll go in first then," Dallas said, wondering why his two friends had taken a disliking to Darry's girlfriend. She hadn't done anything to them, at least what he knew, but he honestly didn't care about her, so he just let his friends get on with it.

Jemi looked up, only to see that Steve was still glaring at her. The brunette cleared her throat before voicing her annoyance.

"What?" she asked, irritation obvious in her voice.

"You _know_ what. Don't lie; I saw what really happened," Steve replied firmly, scanning her up and down.

Jemi suddenly realized that Steve had seen what had happened between Ponyboy and her father, and it made her feel slightly apprehensive. Though instead of revealing her true emotions, she took a different approach towards the dilemma she was greeted with.

"I simply don't know what you're talking about," she exclaimed sarcastically, smacking her hand against her chest overdramatically. "This is news to me."

Two-Bit noticed that Steve's breathing started to get faster, signalling that his anger was getting the best of him. The man put a hand on his younger friend's back, silently telling him that it was going to be okay. Steve didn't believe him for a second.

"Jemi, look: I know that Mr North's your dad an' all, but Ponyboy is Darry and Sodapop's brother. He's just a kid," Two-Bit explained, keeping his arm on Steve's back.

Jemi just chuckled and narrowed her eyes at the two of them.

"You don't get it, do you? Ponyboy is nothing but trouble to everybody! My dad is just doing everybody a favor; admit it: without him in your life, things would run much smoother," she cried, clenching her fists. The girl knew that none of this true, but she didn't want to face that her father was a creep who liked to hurt kids.

She knew about the incident with Tim Shepard that had happened over three years ago. She knew what had been happening to Ponyboy Curtis for the past few months. She knew what her father had been planning for Curly Shepard right after he was finished with Ponyboy. She knew what a monster her father was, but she loved him.

Norman knew, Ruth knew and Jemi knew that they didn't hate Ponyboy for what had happened with Norman and Ruth's unborn baby. It was a big part of it, but then again, Norman's actions towards Tim weren't justified. Hell, even if Ponyboy really had caused the accidental death of their child that was no reason to abuse him every day! And neither Ruth nor Jemi knew why Norman wanted to start on Curly.

Steve and Two-Bit stared at Jemi with disgusted expressions on both their faces.

"Once Dally's done in there, I'll tell Darry and Soda _exactly_ what your dad has been doing to their little brother," Steve affirmed, looking the girl in her gray eyes. Jemi smirked.

"Like Darry would believe you two over me. He told me about what you said, _Steve_. And you," she looked at Two-Bit, "I heard you make up lies all the time. Apparently there was a time where you told the cops that your mom was dying and you needed to go visit her in the hospital, when really you just didn't wanna get arrested."

"That's different! I lie to the fuzz, but I'd never lie to my friends! Darry knows that!" Two-Bit declared, hitting his thigh with the back of his hand.

Their argument was interrupted by Dallas, who had exited Ponyboy's room.

"The kid's pretty bad; his ribs and nose are broken, and the docs aren't sure whether he's got a concussion or not. Those socs hurt him, and they're sure gonna pay," the blond growled, cracking his knuckles. Neither Two-Bit nor Steve missed Jemi's smirk.

The black-haired nurse, who had previously told the visitors that only three people were allowed in the room with the patient, came trotting down the hallway. Dallas raised his eyebrows and started following the nurse, who looked as if she was leaving the hospital building. As said before, he had seen her at Buck's, so she had to be pretty wild, right?

"Let's go in; that moody nurse is gone," Two-Bit whispered, and Steve nodded. Little did they know that Jemi was right behind them.

"Guys, we need to tell you something," Steve announced to Darry and Sodapop. Darry was right next to Ponyboy in one of the hospital chairs, rubbing soft circles into Pony's pale palm. Sodapop was crouched next to the bed, whispering in his baby brother's ear, reassuring Pony that he would get better and that the gang would deal with the socs.

Darry stopped stroking Pony's palm, however he kept hold of Pony's hand, while Soda gently pulled away from his baby brother.

Steve took a deep breath, and Two-Bit smiled at him encouragingly.

"It wasn't the socs who did this – it was Mr North," he sighed.

Darry and Sodapop both gasped, and then the air was filled with nothing but silence. They both looked at Ponyboy, whose small body was covered in bruises and scars. Mr North really did this to him?

"He's lying, Darry!" Jemi screamed, running past Two-Bit and Steve and over to her boyfriend. "My dad would never do such a thing!"

"She's the one who's lying, Darry! That lying piece of-"

"Hey!" Darry yelled, stopping Steve from finishing his sentence. "Jemi was the one who was there; she saw what happened. Don't lie," he warned. Steve's mouth dropped open while Two-Bit gasped at Darry's ignorance. Soda felt like crying; how could Darry not see that it was obvious that it was Norman who had attacked Ponyboy?

Jemi exhaled in relief; at least Darry still believed her.

"Darry c'mon, it's clear that it was Mr North," Soda tried, but Darry turned on him.

"I thought mom and dad raised you better to not make such accusations against somebody," he said sharply, shaking his head.

Right at that moment, Ponyboy's eyes opened. The young boy was confused as to where he was, but when he saw his brothers, and the white pristine room that he was in, he realized that he was in the hospital. This made him shudder; he had never liked hospitals.

"Hey, little buddy," Darry smiled, forgetting the current situation for the moment.

"Hey," Pony responded weakly. Looking around, he noticed everybody looked uneasy, and he was surprised when he saw Jemi. He wanted to run, but there was no way he'd be able to get out of bed; his ribs were aching terribly and he felt very nauseous. "What's up?"

The people in the room looked at each other, all exchanging glances. Steve decided that everybody had to know that he wasn't a liar.

"Ponyboy, don't lie. It was Mr North who did this to you, wasn't it? I saw it," the greaser claimed, gazing into Pony's eyes.

Ponyboy felt a wave nausea pass through his stomach and throat, so he swallowed and turned his head away, only for Sodapop to grab his chin and force him to look at everybody. Behind Soda he could see Jemi, who was shaking her head at him. The poor boy was terrified.

"No…it was the socs," he whispered, letting tears slip out of his greenish-gray eyes.

Two-Bit shook his head, Soda closed his eyes, Darry huffed in anger, Jemi exhaled in relief once again and Steve's eyes widened. Darry didn't know who to believe, but if Pony said it was the socs then it had to be the socs, didn't it? Sodapop, Two-Bit and Steve already knew who the real culprit was (Soda felt like it was obvious who it was after Norman had turned up to his house, looking for Pony and almost smashing a picture of him in anger. And now that Steve had said it was Mr North who had hurt Pony, Soda knew that he had been right all along), and Jemi knew who had hurt Pony was but she was still determined to lie.

"We'll get the socs, don't worry," Darry said softly.

"Oh don't you see?!" Two-Bit yelled. "You know as well as us that it was Mr North, Darry! That girl who you are dating is a lying, manipulative piece of dirt who probably doesn't give a hang about you! Stop covering for her; you're little brother's getting hurt!"

Darry rubbed his hand over his forehead. He was so confused; why would Pony lie to him? If he had the chance to say that Mr North was his abuser, why wouldn't he?

"Little buddy, please tell us the truth," Soda begged, clasping Pony's hand.

Ponyboy squeezed his eyes shut. He wanted to pretend that he wasn't in that room, with his brothers, friends and enemy questioning him. He was scared of telling the truth; what if Jemi told her father? He'd be sure to carry out with his threat of telling the state that Pony had been getting abused by his brothers!

"Pony," Darry urged, looking into his eyes.

The pressure was too much, and Pony broke emotionally. Hot tears poured down his face, and within a few minutes he was close to hyperventilation. A nurse strolled in to check on Pony, only to see that he was being surrounded, and he was crying.

"I'm sorry, but you all need to leave; you're upsetting the patient," she stated, folding her arms.

"Please Pony; nobody's gonna be mad at you," Two-Bit adjured.

"I'll have to get somebody to remove you from this building if you all don't get out," the nurse admonished.

Jemi looked pleadingly at Pony, who shot her a fierce look. He turned to all of them, and without any emotion in his voice, he said:

"You know who."

The nurse sighed and left and quickly returned with two doctors by each side of her.

"You all need to leave," the strongest looking of the two said.

Without any words, all of the guests got up. Darry and Soda each gave Ponyboy a kiss while Two-Bit and Steve patted the boy on his right shoulder. Jemi went to say something, but Sodapop grabbed her arm and pulled the girl out.

"He didn't say _who_ ," Jemi affirmed.

"You're right," Darry laughed, and then turned serious. "Leave my family alone from now on; we're finished: me and you."

Darry, Sodapop, Two-Bit and Steve all started walking out of the building, but Darry stopped when he heard Jemi's cry.

"Darrel," she called.

Sodapop turned around and looked at his brother for a long moment, and then left to get in the truck. Darry shook his head, and left without turning back to face his ex-girlfriend.

The man angrily trudged towards his truck; he didn't know what he felt right now. A range of emotions were whirling right through him. He knew very well that Pony meant Mr North when revealing his abuser, but he didn't want to believe it.

He grabbed Dallas by his collar, away from the black-haired nurse who the blond had been making out with. Darry ignored his friend's protests and shoved him in the truck with the other boys.

"Is Johnny at home?" the oldest Curtis asked, turning around to face the incomplete gang.

"I think so," Two-Bit answered, wondering what Darry was planning on doing.

"I'm gonna get him. Later on, when Pony gets released, I'm gonna bring him home too, and we're all gonna be together. And then we're gonna talk about murdering a certain sick…" Darry went on to call Mr North all of the bad names he could think of, surprising each of the gang; Darry never swore.

"What's goin' on?" Dallas questioned after Darry had finished his rant.

When Steve had finished telling Dallas what had happened and who was responsible for Ponyboy's abuse, Dallas saw red.

 **AN: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! I think there will only be a few more chapters left, which makes me sad :( Still, I hope you have all enjoyed it so far! And thank you to everybody who has favorited, followed and reviewed this story. I can't than you all enough :D**


	20. Payback

**I do not own The Outsiders. S.E. Hinton does :)**

"Can I help you?" Ruth North asked, hiding her clawed arm behind the almost closed door.

She and Norman had been fighting again, but Norman was a strong man, so he always won. It had been about Ponyboy Curtis; Norman had gone to extreme measures and had put the young boy in hospital. Ruth didn't feel bad for the boy, but she didn't want her husband to get caught; they had come so far, and she didn't need her husband messing it up so that the two of them got sent to jail.

"Is Mr North here? He told me that if I didn't come to pick up my school papers then I'd get suspended," the boy at the door answered, confusion and slight anger evident in his voice.

Ruth opened the door wider to get a good look at the boy who was at her door. He had dark curly hair, a lean frame and a scar which ran over his left eyebrow. She had heard about him; Norman talked about him a lot at the dinner table.

"Do you have an older brother?" the woman questioned, smirking at how familiar he looked to a boy that Norman had brought home from work a little over three years ago.

"So what if I do?" the boy retaliated, crossing his arms and glaring at the woman in-front of him. He didn't know why, but he didn't trust her.

"Now, is that a way to speak to your elders?" a new voice asked.

The curly-haired boy was greeted with a wide-eyed Mr North. The teacher was grinning and looked friendly enough, but the dark haired fourteen-year-old didn't trust his math teacher any longer. He gave off a strange vibe, and the teenager didn't like it.

"I just remembered that my brother wants me home," the teenager muttered, edging away from the front door.

"Now Curly, I've already told you: if you don't pick up these papers then you'll be suspended," Mr North smiled, but the boy wasn't buying it.

"But I really do need to get home," Curly replied, flinching as the teacher took hold of his wrist firmly.

Mr North's eyes didn't seem so friendly anymore. They were clouded, reminding Curly of Dallas Winston when he found out that Sylvia had cheated on him. Curly tried pulling out of the man's grip, but Norman's hold was too strong. Strong enough that Curly's wrist was left with a nasty purple bruise after Norman had let go.

The man took hold of the boy's shoulders, and he was smiling, but the smile didn't look friendly.

"You look so much like your brother," Mr North chuckled, taking hold of the youth's chin so that he was forced to look into his teacher's eyes. "But…you're a very horrible person. And horrible people deserve discipline."

Fortunately, Curly had brought his switchblade with him; he was always equipped with his switchblade.

The boy twisted out of Norman's grip and flicked out his blade. The teacher took a step back, but Curly was so scared that he felt the need to make a large bloody gash across Norman's cheek. Ruth screamed and Norman yelled, but Curly took no time in running out of the gates.

"Curse you, Shepard! The fuzz will be hearing about this!" Norman shouted, clutching the right side of his face.

Curly ran home, avoiding the strange looks he was getting from people around him. He didn't care that the socs were calling him names, he didn't care about the girls whistling at him and he didn't care about the car that almost run him over. He just wanted to go home.

Angela and Tim were sitting on the sofa, talking about how stupid their stepdad was and how angry their mom got. It was silly, but they didn't have anything better to talk about.

When Curly strolled through the door, they barely gave him a second glance. Curly's eyes were cold, but he felt hurt; Tim and Angela always on better without Curly.

"You're back late," Tim remarked casually as Curly sat next to him.

"Mr North told me to go to his house," Curly responded, not missing Tim's sudden flinch. "He told me that I needed to pick up some stuff, but when I got there I realized that he lied."

Tim's face paled and his heart started beating faster; he felt sick now, very sick.

"What did he do?" the seventeen-year-old asked, but Curly just shrugged.

"Nothing bad. He grabbed me and tried to get me into his house, told me that I looked like you and called me a 'horrible person'. I got my blade out though, so he let me go," Curly answered, and Tim sighed in relief. "But it's not like you care anyway."

It was silent after that. Tim didn't know what to say; he knew he'd let Curly think that he didn't care about him. But Curly was wrong – Tim just didn't know how to prove it.

Meanwhile, Norman and Ruth were sitting in their living room. Norman was pressing a handkerchief against his wound on his cheek, and Ruth was looking through old family pictures. She wanted a baby since Jemi was grown up, and she had lost her previous one, but Norman didn't love her enough to give her another one. He devoted his time to the children he hated most.

A knock was heard at their front door. Ruth stood, but Norman stopped her.

"I'll get it; it might be that Shepard kid again," Norman said, strolling out of the living room. He still had his handkerchief pressed to his cheek; Curly really had cut deep into his skin.

Norman was surprised when he opened the door; three young men were standing there, and not one of them looked happy.

"Can I help you?" he asked, recognizing two of them to be Steve Randle and Two-Bit Mathews. The third had blond hair and had teeth that looked as sharp as a lynx's.

"You hurt our friend," Two-Bit growled. "His brothers can't be here right now; they're in the hospital because _you_ hurt their little brother."

"I really don't know what you're talking about," Norman snapped, trying to look intimidating. The three greasers weren't intimidated in the slightest however. "C'mon boys, let's let this slide, huh?"

Steve, Two-Bit and Dallas all looked at each other before glaring at the teacher. Norman was trapped, and Ruth was useless, so he had no way out of this.

"I get first punch," Dallas demanded, staring at his friends. Steve and Two-Bit nodded.

For the first time in his life, Norman North felt the pain that he had made all of those children feel. Of course, the children would always feel worse, but Dally, Two-Bit and Steve made sure that Norman got the message that if he hurt their friend again, he'd be begging to be killed.

 **XXX**

Ponyboy's vision was hazy when he woke up. He realized that he wasn't in the hospital anymore; he was back in his bedroom. When he turned over, he saw that Sodapop was asleep next to him.

"Soda," he whispered, shaking his brother's shoulder. One of Soda's arms was wrapped around Pony, so the boy slid it off his stomach. "Soda, wake up."

"Yeah?" Soda mumbled, pulling Ponyboy so that the young boy's face was in his brother's chest. Ponyboy sighed, snuggling down into the covers while Soda's arm wrapped around Pony's frame again.

The young greaser closed his eyes, but a thought forced them to snap back open. Where was Mr North?

"Soda, where's-" the youngest Curtis stopped himself; nobody needed to know about Mr North.

"Where's who?" Soda questioned, patting Pony's back. "Darry's in the living room."

Pony exhaled slowly, glad that Soda hadn't said Mr North's name. But why would he? His brother didn't know what the teacher had been doing to Ponyboy, and Ponyboy liked it that way; nobody was stressed then.

Right at that moment, Darrel Curtis walked into his younger brothers' bedroom. He smiled when he saw that both of them were awake.

"Thank goodness you're awake Pony; you've been asleep since yesterday," he commented, sitting down on the bed.

"Yeah; stupid socs knocked me out," Pony said nervously, fidgeting with the bedsheets.

Darry and Sodapop looked at each other, and then turned their eyes to Ponyboy who looked paler than ever.

"Ponyboy," Sodapop said softly. Ponyboy looked up at his older brother. "You don't have to lie no more."

Ponyboy's turned his head to the side in confusion. What did Soda mean? But judging by the sad gazes that both of his brothers were giving him, Ponyboy realized what he meant.

"What do you mean? I'm telling the truth," Ponyboy claimed, feeling his cheeks flush.

"You're safe now, Pony. Mr North ain't gonna hurt you no more," Darry smiled sadly, but Ponyboy didn't feel any comfort at all.

The boy pushed his covers off himself and stood up, facing both of his brothers who had worried expressions on both of their faces.

"I don't know what you're talking about! Mr North is a good teacher. I know I called him a psycho and everything, but that's just because I thought Jemi was gonna take you away from us!" Pony shouted, but he knew that he was lying.

"C'mon little buddy, calm down. I ain't mad at you at all; it's Mr North I'm mad at," Darry reassured, but Pony started shaking. "We'll talk about this at dinner, okay? It's almost done."

The youngest Curtis sighed; why wouldn't his brothers believe him? Sodapop put on his shirt while Pony stood there awkwardly; not liking the reassuring glances that Darry was giving him. They weren't supposed to find out about Mr North.

Dinner was quiet. Ponyboy pushed his food around his plate, not finding the vegetables and meat in the least bit appetizing. Sodapop and Darry ate their food and tried to speak to their little brother, but Ponyboy just ignored them.

When Sodapop stood up to take the dishes to the sink, Darry turned to Ponyboy.

"Pony, it's okay; we've made sure that Mr North will never come near you again. Dally, Two-Bit and Steve sorted him out yesterday," Darry explained, gently smiling at his little brother.

"Well that was pointless since he didn't do anything," Pony sniffled, trying to stop himself from crying.

Now _everyone_ knew what had happened.

"It's not your fault, and I'm so sorry for not realizing sooner. Some of it was my fault; I mean, I let Jemi come in here and lie to me, and then I forced you to go to tutoring classes with that creep. He didn't really tutor you, did he?"

Ponyboy sighed; there was no way that his brothers would listen to him. They knew that Norman had abused him, and there was nothing he could do about it.

"No," Pony mumbled.

Darry didn't say anything after that. He closed his eyes tight, thinking about how he let his baby brother get hurt day after day while he did nothing about it. He just hoped that Ponyboy would be able to recover from this trauma which he had been suffering from.

The man picked up his younger brother, not bothering to put him down when the boy complained. He just carried Pony to his own room and then sat down. Neither of them said anything; Ponyboy had his gaze focused on Darry's wall and Darry was thinking about what to say.

A short while after, Sodapop came in and sat next to Ponyboy, so the youngest Curtis was in the middle of both of his big brothers.

"Please talk to us, Pony. Why didn't you tell us what was happening?" Sodapop questioned softly, turning Pony's head so that he was facing him. Ponyboy turned away again, only to be caught by Darry.

"I didn't want you both worryin'," the boy admitted, feeling tears come to his eyes.

When Ponyboy started crying, Soda felt like crying aswell. Darry just breathed out heavily; he felt emotions pass through him, but he didn't express them by crying. He expressed them by pulling Ponyboy right against his chest, and then pulling Sodapop close to him aswell. He never wanted to let his brothers go; so much had happened, and now he felt a sudden urge to just hold them.

"I'm so sorry, Pony," Darry whispered, swallowing when his youngest brother looked up at him.

"What for? You haven't done anything wrong," the boy replied, wiping his eyes.

"For not being here for you," Darry answered, burying his face in Pony's auburn hair. "I love you so much, and so does Soda. I wish you would've told us though."

"I just wanted you guys to be happy," Pony whimpered, but was surprised when he heard a cry from Darry's throat.

"When you're not happy, I'm not happy, little man. Same with Soda; when you two are upset, I feel upset too," he said, rubbing Pony's back.

Ponyboy understood, and so did Soda. They both snuggled into their big brother, not wanting to let go either.

"You're okay now, Pony. I ain't gonna let anyone hurt you like that again; you're too important to me," Darry stated, and Ponyboy nodded.

"You two are the best big brothers ever," Pony cried, and Soda and Darry hugged their baby brother tighter.

The three brothers held each other all through the night, and eventually Soda and Ponyboy fell asleep. Darry laid Soda down on the bed and did the same with Ponyboy, who had fallen asleep on his lap. The man gave each of his brothers a kiss on the forehead before leaving his room.

He looked at them one last time; smiling at how young they looked as the moon illuminated their features. He left them then, in the room, by themselves.

But he wasn't leaving them for good; Darry Curtis would always be there for his brothers if they needed him. _Always_.

 **AN: Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, and sorry for the long wait! Thank you to everybody who has favorited, followed and reviewed this story so far; I can't thank you all enough :D**


	21. Tomorrow is another Day

**I do not own The Outsiders. S.E. Hinton does :)**

The trial was only meant to be between Ponyboy, his brothers and Mr North, but the four were surprised when about twenty people turned up outside of the court, waiting for Ponyboy's family. Some of the people were adults, some were teenagers, and some were children. When Mr North saw the crowd, he felt himself go pale; he recognized every single one of them.

Nobody spoke to Ponyboy, his family or Mr North as they walked past. Ponyboy felt his cheeks flush, thinking these people were going to laugh at him for what had happened, but was surprised when he heard somebody faintly whisper:

"Good luck."

He didn't turn around to see who had said those two words, and instead continued walking. A few minutes later, Ruth and Jemi turned up at the court, standing with Norman. As they all went inside, they couldn't help but feel intimidated by the large crowd that continued to stare at all of them.

Words. A lot of words were said in the court; some were true while others weren't. In the end, Norman pleaded to not guilty, which was a complete lie, but it wasn't as if he cared; he'd lied many times before.

The Judge, who was a large, red-faced man and appeared to be in his late forties, didn't seem to pay attention to Ponyboy. The man had it engraved into his mind that since Norman North was a respected member of society, he must have been telling the truth.

"Defendant not guilty," the Judge claimed, gathering his papers up. All of the Curtis's gasped, however they knew that there was nothing they could do about it.

Ponyboy didn't miss the smirk that was plastered across Norman and Ruth's faces, nor did he miss the sigh that Jemi exhaled. He didn't know what to think of Jemi: she seemed to feel sympathetic for him one minute, and then against him the next. She was either sighing because she felt sorry for Pony, or she was sighing because she was bored since the court scenario had probably happened many times before.

"So you're just gonna let him get away with this?!" Sodapop shrieked, but the Judge just shrugged.

"Mr North is a respected member of society; I doubt that anybody would believe your brother's silly tale over this man's clear words of truthfulness. Perhaps you need to get your head checked, young man; children can be quite manipulating these days, so I suppose I can't blame _you_ for believing your brothers made-up stories," he replied, getting ready to leave the courtroom. That was when Darry stepped in.

"Let this guy get away with child abuse sure, but _never_ call any of my brothers a liar," Darry warned, glaring daggers at the man.

The Judge gulped and nodded before leaving the courtroom, clearly flustered and embarrassed from Darry's scolding. Everybody else followed his actions, leaving the courtroom which was too hot for most people's likings.

"I just wanted to say, well done. At least you tried," Norman smirked, as if the brothers had just missed a winning goal in a soccer game. He held his hand out for Darry to shake, to which Darry merely turned away from.

The crowd was still waiting outside when all six people exited the court. Norman tried to walk away, but two grown men stood in-front of him.

"We want a word, _sir_ ," the tallest of the two men growled, blocking Norman's path.

As the Curtis brothers dodged through the crowd, they passed Tim on the way, and were quite shocked.

"Tim, what are you doing here?" Sodapop asked, looking at the taller male. Tim raised his eyebrows at them before speaking.

"So you actually took the sick guy to court, huh? Only two people have done that before, and it failed. I guess it failed this time too?" Tim asked, turning his head to look at Ponyboy.

All three brothers shook their heads, disappointment clear on all of their faces.

"What's going on anyway? They beating North up or somethin'?" Darry questioned, wrapping an arm around Ponyboy's shoulders.

"Nah, just talking to him. Everybody here has been abused by Norman. Well, some of the people are parents; they ain't been abused, but if anybody hurt Curly or Angela, I'd be down here, whether the person had hurt me or not," Tim claimed, rolling his eyes as the talking soon turned into shouting. Ruth had joined in too by now, and Jemi was shouting over everybody to try and calm the crowd down.

Ponyboy shivered; even though he knew that Mr North couldn't hurt him anymore, he knew that there was always a possibility, especially if Norman continued working in his school.

"Get out of the city!" a woman's voiced exclaimed. "You hurt my little boy! I'm gonna kill you!"

"Those people tried to kidnap my kids! I say we get rid of them now!" another voice shouted, though this voice was male.

"He took away my innocence all those years ago, and he's still getting away with it."

"My girl tried to end her life after what he did to her!"

"The woman's just as bad! She wanted my son dead after he refused to be _her_ son. They're insane!"

"Please!" Norman interrupted loudly, startling everybody. The whole crowd, including Ponyboy, Sodapop, Darry and Tim, looked up at the man. "I realize Ruth and I and even Jemi have made some mistakes, but we're human," he chuckled, expecting the people to understand and laugh along with him. "What do you say…do you think we could get another chance?"

It seemed as if the whole world had gone silent for a moment. Nobody spoke, nobody screamed, nobody even breathed. Norman and Ruth sighed in relief, and were about to walk away, but a man's loud booming voice stopped the husband and wife.

"Get them!"

Norman, Ruth and Jemi North all ran for their lives as the three of them were chased by an angry mob of the North's victims. Ponyboy, Darry and Sodapop stayed behind, but Tim left to join the mob.

"I wanna go home," Ponyboy stated, watching as the crowd slowly disappeared.

"Yeah, me too," Sodapop said, and Darry nodded.

The three brothers smiled at each other before starting their journey home. They all knew that the journey to recovery would be quite a long one, but they'd reach their final destination – as brothers.

 **XXX**

"So they're really gone for good?" Ponyboy asked Curly over the phone, waving Two-Bit off when the latter offered him some beer. "Darry's gonna kill you," he whispered angrily to the immature teenager.

"Sorry, what was that?" Curly questioned in shock.

"No, no, I meant Two-Bit; he was bein' stupid as usual," Ponyboy replied in an agitated voice.

"Oh, okay. And yeah, Mr North and his family are gone for good; the principal told us today," Curly informed Ponyboy, who sighed deeply.

He hadn't gone into school today since he'd been awake the night before worrying about Norman's return to the school. He felt better knowing that Mr North wouldn't be able to hurt him anymore; he was gone for good.

"By the way, I'm sorry about what I said to you; I was just annoyed because I thought you were taking Tim away from me. But he's actually being a lot nicer now; him and Angie were on the sofa watching something and I thought that they wouldn't want me there, but then Tim offered for me to sit with them and he told me to sit next to him! He ain't never done that in his life!" Curly expressed happily, glad that his older brother was being affectionate towards him.

"That's great, Curly. Well, I gotta go, but I'll speak to you in school tomorrow, okay?" Ponyboy asked, brushing his shirt with his hands.

"Yeah sure. By the way, I've heard we've got a big project coming up in chemistry. If we're in partners, maybe we could-"

"Yes Curly, I'll be your partner," Ponyboy chuckled, glad that he and Curly were friends again.

"Great. Oh, Tim's calling me; I'll talk to you tomorrow. Bye!" Curly babbled, hanging up the phone

Ponyboy just smiled, putting the phone back and making his way into the kitchen where Sodapop and Darry were seated. For the first time in months, Ponyboy actually ate his whole dinner.

"Every time I've sat down to eat, I've always felt sick, so I'd never finish my food. I don't have that feeling anymore, and it feels great to feel normal again." Ponyboy thought to himself, listening to his brothers as they chatted about work.

After clearing up the dishes, Ponyboy entered the living room, where Darry and Sodapop were having _another_ disagreement. Ever since they had found out about the abuse, both Darry and Sodapop had been arguing, and it drove Ponyboy insane. He now knew what it felt like to be caught in the middle of arguments all the time, and he had to say that he didn't know how Sodapop had kept on the brave-face for so long.

"I'm not saying he's depressed, I'm just saying that with some therapy, he might be able to feel normal again."

"What are you talking about? He just wants to forget, and I'm sure you booking therapy sessions to talk about that twisted guy isn't gonna help him!" Sodapop exclaimed, throwing his arms up in the air.

"Guys," Ponyboy called, collapsing on the sofa next to Two-Bit who was almost asleep. Steve was asleep in the recliner with his body curled up in the seat while Johnny was sitting on the floor, not wanting to get involved with the brothers' arguing.

Unfortunately, Ponyboy's voice went unheard, and the brother's continued to argue, their voices getting louder and louder. Finally, it was all too much, and Ponyboy couldn't stand for their arguing any longer; mainly because it was about him.

"Enough!" he screamed, waking up Two-Bit and Steve, startling Darry and Soda, and causing Johnny to let out a whimper. "Please guys…no more."

His face showed sadness, anger and a glint of happiness. The happiness was from the fact that he had gotten his brothers to listen. The anger was from the fact that his brothers completely ignored him when he called out to them. But most of all, the sadness was because his brothers were arguing while they were meant to be making things better, not worse.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Darry said miserably, wrapping Ponyboy in a hug. Sodapop followed his older brother's actions, effectively crushing Ponyboy in their embrace.

"I just want everything to be normal. The only thing that's getting in the way is you two arguing all the time," Ponyboy whispered honestly, feeling both of his brothers nod their heads.

"We'll try to stop," Sodapop promised, kissing Pony's head.

Ponyboy pushed both of his brothers away and grabbed Johnny's arm. The poor boy was shaking from all of the yelling; it reminded him of his own house.

"I really hope so," Ponyboy smiled, guiding Johnny to his and Soda's bedroom.

The two laid down on the bed; Ponyboy made sure that Johnny was covered in the warm blanket, and the tanned greaser smiled at his best friend. The youngest Curtis fetched his copy of _Gone with the Wind_ , lying down next to his friend before flipping through the whole book.

"How are we ever gonna get through this?! It's not every day you go through something like this," Sodapop cried, on the verge of tears.

Ponyboy listened, putting the book down for a second. Johnny put his head on Ponyboy's shoulder, and his friend rubbed his hair for comfort.

"We're gonna get through this. All of us are," Darry declared, and Ponyboy felt himself beam when his brother said that.

Darry still had faith in him. Darry believed that he could get through it. Darry _knew_ that they were all strong, and that they would conquer this…together. They were all gonna get through it.

"After all," Ponyboy smiled, tilting his head to look at Johnny who had now fallen asleep with his head on Pony's shoulder. "Tomorrow is another day."

 **AN: -That last line is from G** ** _one with the Wind ;)_** **\- Hope you enjoyed that chapter! Sorry for not updating for a while, but I've been busy with schoolwork and I've also been spending a lot of time watching the movie** ** _ET: The Extra Terrestrial_** **; it is my second favourite film (The Outsiders being first of course!). This is not the end of this story; there's one more chapter left :D Thank you to everybody who has favorited, followed and reviewed this story; I can't thank you all enough :D**


	22. Epilogue: North and South

**I do not own The Outsiders. S.E. Hinton does :)**

Ponyboy stepped into the sunlight, admiring the city around him. It was 1991, the year Ponyboy turned forty. He was out on his birthday.

For most of the day he had been at Darry's house; he didn't live with his big brother anymore, though he visited his brother frequently, along with Sodapop.

So much had happened since 1965: the year Bob Sheldon, Johnny Cade and Dallas Winston died.

Darry had gotten married, though he hadn't had any children; he said that two boys were enough. His wife couldn't have children anyway; however the couple had fostered a lot of children in their time.

Sodapop was also married, and his wife had given birth to twins in 1979. The male twin was named Johnny, and the female twin was named Jenny. Oddly enough, the names were actually coincidental; Johnny had been named after Johnny Cade, and Jenny had been named after Two-Bit's sister, who had unfortunately died when she was seventeen.

Two-Bit was a divorced man, and was now living with his mother, who was terminally ill. He looked after her a lot; however she had told him that she wanted him to attend Ponyboy's birthday party; to let him have some freedom. The man had given up his drinking habit; he had been clean since his sister's death.

Steve had moved out of Oklahoma when he was 34, however since it was Pony's 40th birthday, he had drove all the way down from Kansas to see his old buddy. He'd brought his female cousin, who had taken an extreme liking to Two-Bit, it seemed.

As for Ponyboy: he had also gotten married. If he had to be perfectly honest, he would have said the only reason he fell head over heels for the girl was because she reminded him of a certain redheaded soc who Ponyboy had occasionally daydreamed about in his spare time when he was fourteen. However, once he got to know the woman, he truly fell in-love. They had two children: Dallas and Bob, and were currently expecting a third.

The kids were at Darry's house at the moment while Ponyboy went out to collect some food for his party. He didn't know why, but the kids seemed to love spending time with their uncles. Sodapop had offered to collect the food, but Ponyboy said he needed the air.

Walking through the streets of Tulsa brought back childhood memories for Pony. He remembered the bad ones; like getting jumped by socs, but he also remembered the good ones; his first kiss being a good example. Then he thought of school, and the dreaded face of Mr North. The man shuddered before walking off to the grocery store.

He already had a list of what he needed to get: drinks, candy, snacks, and more candy. The man knew it wasn't wise to leave his shopping list to four kids, but he just went with it.

"Party?" the woman at the cash register asked, smiling as she placed the items in some bags.

"Uh-huh. Forty years old today," Ponyboy laughed, and the woman fake gasped.

"You're sure you're not twenty?" she chuckled, taking Pony's money from him.

"I wish!" Ponyboy replied, and the woman agreed while laughing.

It always felt good to laugh; laughing meant happiness, and Ponyboy liked being happy. The man lifted up his bags and strolled out of the store, closing his eyes as the sun beamed down on him.

He made his way home, however whilst doing so he felt as if something passed through him. The people he walked past just seemed to have the effect on him, so he turned to look at them.

Three adults were walking in the opposite direction of him. The man had a head full of gray, and the woman standing next to him had gray hair that was just a little darker than the man's. The younger woman was as thin as a stick, and had thin, dark hair that reached her shoulders. She was pushing a blue stroller, however there was no baby in the stroller; just a doll.

"Oh dear, oh dear; looks like Ed's upset, dear," the man said to the old woman, who Ponyboy assumed was the man's wife.

"I know. Here Jemi, let me push him; poor little boy probably wants his mother," the woman said to the younger one, who angrily pushed the stroller towards the older woman.

"No need to get jealous of your little brother; he's only little," the man piped up.

Ponyboy wondered why the family were talking about the doll as if it was a real human; however this wasn't what bothered him most. He had only heard of one Jemi, but it couldn't have been Jemi North could it? The North's had left the city years ago!

"Now, now, Norman; don't go losing your temper."

"I'm not losing my temper, Ruth, dear. I just don't think Jemi should be so horrible to her little brother."

Ponyboy knew exactly who the people were now, and he felt fear rise in him. But what did he have to be afraid about? He wasn't thirteen anymore – they couldn't hurt him now.

The young woman turned around, revealing her large, gray eyes to Ponyboy. She blinked for a moment and patted the older woman, her mother, on the shoulder. Both man and wife turned around to see what their daughter was looking at, and all three stared at Ponyboy.

Ruth still had the wicked-look she used to have on her wrinkled face. Any pleasant features she had twenty-seven years ago had now shrivelled up beneath her pallid skin. She looked ill, as if she could die soon.

Norman North no longer had his moustache, and like his wife; wrinkles covered his entire face. Ponyboy guessed that his former teacher was now in his seventies or possibly his eighties. He too looked ill and on the verge of death.

It took them a minute to realize that it was Ponyboy Curtis, the boy who they had abused twenty-seven long years ago, who was staring at them. Jemi gasped while Norman and Ruth just stared at him with shocked expressions. Ponyboy wanted to yell at them; to show them that he was so much better than them, but he didn't.

Instead, the man just smiled at them in a friendly manner, as if he didn't recognize them. They didn't smile back, just carried on staring.

"Good day," he said, and then he left.

The whole way home, Ponyboy couldn't seem to get those three certain people out of his head. The doll in the stroller reminded him that they were still the mad family that they always used to be.

But he wasn't afraid of them like he had been before they looked at him. He realized that they were actually terrified of him, while he had nothing to be terrified about. However, he did feel saddened at the fact that people like the North's got to live while his parents and friends had to die.

The man opened the door and smiled as four children came rushing towards him. He handed them a bag of candy each, and then handed out drinks to all of the adults.

"What took you so long?" Two-Bit inquired, taking Steve's cousin's drink away from her. The girl smacked the man on the shoulder playfully while Two-Bit chuckled.

"I saw some people from my childhood," Ponyboy laughed, catching everybody's attention.

"Who?" Steve asked, sipping from his can of beer.

"Oh, just my old teacher and his family. Nobody special," Ponyboy laughed.

Two-Bit and Steve didn't get onto what Ponyboy was trying to say, however Darry and Sodapop did. Though instead of saying anything about it, they just grinned at their little brother, who wasn't so little anymore.

The rest of the party was spent with everybody fooling around, playing games and having a good time. Ponyboy listened to his wife's stomach, and smiled at the thought of gaining another child.

Twenty-seven years ago, if Ponyboy was asked about the North's, he would have paled and wouldn't have forgotten about them for another week. Now however, it was as if he had never known them. He'd never forget about what they did to him, but he tried his best to not think about them. Why would he want to anyway?

All's he wanted to think about was his family and friends. They were the people who made his life worth living. They were what he lived for.

The North's were nobodies. They didn't make anybody's lives worth living. They had nothing to live for anymore.

So the next time Ponyboy passed the three people who were once his whole life in the street, he didn't stop to look at them. Instead, he just carried on walking. They were just three more faces in Tulsa. Three more nobodies that had been forgotten about a long time ago.

 **AN: So that's the end! I'm sad to see North and South come to an end; however I have loved writing it and getting feedback from all you guys! I hope you guys enjoyed the story, as well as this final chapter. Thank you to everybody who has favorited, followed and reviewed this story, I really can't thank you all enough! :D**


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